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| Oregon statewide unemployment rate - January 2008 | ||
| 02/25/2008 | ||
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CONTACT: David Cooke, Economist (503) 947-1272 David.C.Cooke@state.or.us Oregon’s Employment Situation: January 2008 Oregon’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.5 percent in January, essentially unchanged from 5.4 percent in December. The U.S. seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.9 percent in January and 5.0 percent in December. In January, Oregon’s seasonally adjusted nonfarm payroll employment added 500 jobs after a gain of 1,300 in December. Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data) In January, total seasonally adjusted payroll employment closely tracked normal patterns. But below the surface, two major industries cut more jobs than they normally do in January: construction ( 2,200 jobs) and manufacturing (-1,100). And counteracting these trends, two major industries performed better than expected for the month: educational and health services (+4,000 jobs) and professional and business services (+1,100). Despite the uptrend in Oregon’s unemployment rate over the past nine months, several labor force measures were at record levels. Population growth and economic expansion have led to the following seasonally adjusted figures reaching record highs in January: total nonfarm payroll employment at 1,741,100, civilian labor force at 1,949,423, and the number of Oregonians employed as measured by the household survey at 1,841,971. Construction continued its downtrend of recent months by cutting 5,900 jobs at a time of year when a drop of 3,700 is expected due to seasonal factors. Specialty trade contractors experienced the biggest hit in January, falling 3,500 jobs and now down 2,600 over the past 12 months. Seasonally adjusted construction employment stood at 98,500 jobs in January, the first month below 100,000 jobs since March 2006. Construction employment peaked in July at 105,800 and is down by 7,300 jobs or 6.9 percent since then. Manufacturing cut 3,000 jobs in January, which was more of a decline than the expected cut of 1,900 for the month. Losses were evenly split between durable goods and nondurable goods industries, which each shed 1,500. Most industries within manufacturing shed between 100 and 300 jobs in January. The exception was food manufacturing, which cut 1,500 jobs and was down by 400 since January 2007. Over the longer term, seasonally adjusted manufacturing employment has been relatively flat since April with gains in metals and machinery manufacturing offsetting losses in wood products, computer and electronic products, transportation equipment, and paper manufacturing. Educational and health services posted very strong January employment numbers with a seasonally adjusted gain of 4,000. This was by far the largest January gain of any of the major industries and helped keep the change in total payroll employment in positive territory. In January, most of the health services components added jobs versus typical job losses for January. Hospitals added 200 jobs and is up 1,900 or 3.7 percent over the year. Hospital employment was fairly flat from mid-2005 through mid-2006, but accelerated sharply over the past year and a half to employ 52,200 by January. Nursing and residential care facilities added 200 jobs in January and social assistance added 400. Professional and business services cut only 5,000 jobs in January at a time of year when the expected drop was 6,100. This industry expanded employment rapidly in 2004, 2005 and much of 2006, but has seen limited growth recently. It is up 1,400 jobs in the past 12 months, for a growth rate of 0.7 percent. Unemployment (Household Survey Data) Oregon’s seasonally adjusted January unemployment rate of 5.5 percent was significantly above the lowest level over the past several years, which was reached in February, March and April 2007, when the rate was 5.0 percent. In January, 121,582 Oregonians were unemployed, compared with 112,187 in January 2007. Revisions to Unemployment and Industry Employment Data Oregon’s economic expansion through the third quarter of last year was stronger than originally estimated. The annual revisions to the payroll employment numbers show that employment grew by 3.0 percent in 2006 and by 1.6 percent in 2007. The trend throughout 2007 now shows stronger growth in the first and third quarter. The year ended with virtually no revision to the December total nonfarm employment figure. Meanwhile, newly revised labor force data show that Oregon’s unemployment rate remained within a narrow range of 5.0 to 5.5 percent during the 24 months of 2006 and 2007. The rate reached a bottom of 5.0 percent during February through April 2007. Then it gradually rose to 5.4 percent by October through December. The Oregon Employment Department will release statewide unemployment rate and employment survey data for February 2008 at 11 a.m. on Monday, March 17, 2008. — end —
For the complete version of the news release, including tables and graphs, visit: www.QualityInfo.org/pressrelease. For help finding jobs and training resources, visit one of the state's WorkSource Oregon Centers or go to: www.WorkSourceOregon.org. Equal Opportunity program — auxiliary aids and services available upon request to individuals with disabilities. |
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