Oregon’s unemployment rate rose to 4.4% in November from 4.1% in October. The unemployment rate increased 0.9 percentage point over the past four months from its recent low of 3.5% in May, June, and July. The last time Oregon’s unemployment rate was 4.4% or more was in October 2021 when the rate was 4.4%. In contrast, the U.S. unemployment rate has remained below 4%, as it was 3.7% in both October and November of 2022.
In Oregon, nonfarm payroll employment rose by 8,500 jobs in November, following a gain of 5,500 jobs in October. The gains in November were largest in government (+2,900 jobs); health care and social assistance (+1,400); wholesale trade (+1,100); and leisure and hospitality (+1,000). None of the major industries cut a substantial number of jobs in November.
All major sectors of government grew. Federal government added 900 jobs in November, with several firms adding jobs when they normally would be shedding seasonal jobs heading into the winter slow period. State government added 300 jobs, continuing its slow growth this year. Local government added 1,700 jobs, but remained 2,400 jobs below November 2019, prior to the pandemic recession.
Oregon’s private sector added 5,600 jobs in November, reaching another all-time high of 1,688,400. This was 16,700 jobs, or 1.0%, above the pre-recession peak in February 2020.
Health care and social assistance continued its steady and rapid advances this year, adding 1,400 jobs in November, which was close to its average gain of 1,200 jobs per month this year. Social assistance grew the most, adding 5,100 jobs (+7.8%) in the past 12 months. Ambulatory health care services (+4,500 jobs, or 4.8%) and nursing and residential care facilities (+2,100 jobs, or 4.3%) also have expanded rapidly since November 2021.
Leisure and hospitality is still substantially below its pre-pandemic peak. But its revised gain of 2,000 jobs in October, coupled with its gain of 1,000 in November, put the industry back on its recent upward trajectory. Over the past 12 months it added 15,700 jobs, accounting for nearly a quarter of Oregon’s private-sector job gains during that time.
Next Press Releases
The Oregon Employment Department plans to release the November county and metropolitan area unemployment rates on Tuesday, Dec. 20, and the next statewide unemployment rate and employment survey data for December on Thursday, Jan. 19.
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, select Tools, then choose LAUS or CES under the Economy header. 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 unemployment.oregon.gov.
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.
El Departamento de Empleo de Oregon (OED) es una agencia de igualdad de oportunidades. El OED proporciona ayuda gratuita para que usted pueda utilizar nuestros servicios. Algunos ejemplos son intérpretes de lengua de señas e idiomas hablados, materiales escritos en otros idiomas, letra grande, audio y otros formatos. Para obtener ayuda, por favor llame al 503-947-1444. Usuarios de TTY pueden llamar al 711. También puede enviar un correo electrónico a communications@employ.oregon.gov.
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