Oregon’s job market continued to contract in July, with seasonally adjusted nonfarm payrolls down by 2,700 jobs, following a revised loss of 8,600 in June. The steepest declines came in financial activities (-2,700 jobs), professional and business services (-1,400), and health care and social assistance (-1,100). The biggest gains were in construction (+2,900) and transportation, warehousing, and utilities (+800).
Construction employment rose to 112,700, recovering from two slow months but still well below its two-year average of 117,500. Professional and business services, now at 254,100 jobs, has fallen 14,800 (5.5%) since peaking in March 2023, with each of its three main sectors seeing similar losses.
Revised data shows most industries have fewer jobs than earlier estimates indicated. From July 2024 to July 2025, Oregon shed 24,600 jobs overall (-1.2%). Manufacturing dropped 9,400 jobs (-5.0%), and several industries—including information, private education, wholesale trade, financial activities, and construction—fell between 3% and 4%. Only health care and social assistance (+9,800, or 3.2%) and leisure and hospitality (+2,000, or 1.0%) saw gains.
The unemployment rate rose to 5.0% in July, up from 4.9% in June and 4.2% a year earlier. Oregon’s rate is now 1.4 points above its 2023 low of 3.6%. Nationally, unemployment was 4.1% in June and 4.2% in July.
