In Oregon, nonfarm payroll employment shed 600 jobs in September. Although a small decline, this was the first drop in jobs following 12 consecutive months of gains. Losses in September were largest in other services (-1,500 jobs), government (-1,100 jobs), and financial activities (-700). These losses were balanced by gains in professional and business services (+1,400), health care and social assistance (+1,000), manufacturing (+800), and leisure and hospitality (+600).
Oregon’s private sector added 500 jobs in September, reaching an all-time high of 1,676,100. This was 4,400 jobs, or 0.3%, above its pre-recession peak in February 2020.
Other services—one of the smallest of the major industries, employing 61,200 in September—has pulled down overall jobs in recent months. It cut 2,700 jobs between July and September, following a spike upward of 4,200 jobs between April and July. In September, a diverse grouping of establishments cut jobs including civic and social organizations, religious organizations, and nail salons.
Health care and social assistance rebounded substantially this year following a lackluster performance in 2021. It added 10,800 jobs during January through September 2022. Each of its four component industries added jobs during that time, with two growing at the fastest rate and adding the most jobs: ambulatory health care services (+4,500 jobs) and social assistance (+3,100).
Accommodation and food services continued to recover from the Pandemic Recession, adding 2,400 jobs in September and gaining 16,100 jobs over the past 12 months. Despite this recent growth, it is still 6,500 below its pre-pandemic high reached in February 2020.
Oregon’s unemployment rate edged up to 3.8% in September from 3.7% in August, and was above the recent low of 3.5% reached in May, June, and July. Meanwhile, the U.S. unemployment rate declined from 3.7% in August to 3.5% in September. Despite slight differences in their movements in recent months, both the U.S. unemployment rate and Oregon’s unemployment rate have each averaged 3.6% since March.
Next Press Releases
The Oregon Employment Department plans to release the September county and metropolitan area unemployment rates on Tuesday, Oct. 25, and the next statewide unemployment rate and employment survey data for October on Wednesday, Nov. 16.
Notes:
All numbers in the above narrative are seasonally adjusted, except for the industries within health care and social assistance.
The Oregon Employment Department and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) work cooperatively to develop and publish monthly Oregon payroll employment and labor force data. The estimates of monthly job gains and losses are based on a survey of businesses. The estimates of unemployment are based on a survey of households and other sources.
The Oregon Employment Department publishes payroll employment estimates that are revised by using employment counts from employer unemployment insurance tax records. All department publications use this Official Oregon Series data unless noted otherwise. This month’s release incorporates the October, November and December 2021 tax records data. The department continues to make the original nonfarm payroll employment series available; these data are produced by the BLS.
The PDF version of the news release can be found at QualityInfo.org/press-release. To obtain the data in other formats such as in Excel, visit QualityInfo.org, then within the top banner, select Economic Data, then choose LAUS or CES. To request the press release as a Word document, contact the person shown at the top of this press release.
To file a claim for unemployment benefits or get more information about unemployment programs, visit Oregon.gov/employ.
The Oregon Employment Department (OED) is an equal opportunity agency. OED provides free help so you can use our services. Some examples are sign language and spoken-language interpreters, written materials in other languages, large print, audio, and other formats. To get help, please call 503-947-1444. TTY users call 711. You can also send an email to communications@employ.oregon.gov.
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