Oregon jobless rate falls below 5%
Although schools brought back fewer employees and construction slowed in September, resulting in a net loss of 200 jobs, Oregon’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.7 percent. Despite flat job growth, the Oregon Employment Department reported more Oregonians worked during the month than in August, when the revised unemployment rate was 5 percent. While local government saw 3,800 fewer jobs and construction lost 1,400 positions, the Portland Business Journal reported, those losses were offset by increases in professional and business services at 2,500 jobs and leisure and hospitality, which added 2,200 positions but still lags far behind pre-pandemic numbers. A third sector—transportation, warehousing, and utilities—increased by 1,000 jobs. The OED reported 102,000 unemployed Oregonians in September, a stark contrast to the worst numbers during the Covid pandemic in April 2020, when 270,000 were jobless.
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