September 20, 2024

With another solid month of estimated job growth in August, Oregon’s payrolls are looking better relative to other states. Since the middle of 2022, the rate of job growth has swung well above and below the national average. After starting 2024 very soft, gains have accelerated once more in recent months. Oregon’s unemployment rate declined slightly to 4.0% in August from 4.1% in July and has remained virtually unchanged for nearly a year.

Growth was led by large monthly job gains among healthcare & social service providers as well as private educational services. Monthly losses were largest among leisure and hospitality firms and government workers.

Over the past year, payrolls in Oregon have remained relatively flat, with a slowdown in spending evident and stress among industries that are most sensitive to high interest rates. As spending has slowed, large job losses have been seen across a range of retail trade establishments as well as at food service providers. In keeping with a cooling job market, there has been a sharp decline in the number of temporary workers over the year as well.

The Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate cut this month could not have come sooner for Oregon’s job market given that high interest rates have clearly been hurting growth over the past year. At the topline, construction and manufacturing firms have been stagnant over the past year.  Drilling down into industry segments, many of those most sensitive to high interest rates have cut a significant number of jobs including motor vehicle and parts dealers, building material suppliers, and credit intermediation firms.

Although it will take several months, lower interest rates will remove some of the headwinds faced by Oregon’s job market. According to the Oregon Employment Department, job counts will also look significantly better after the next round of quarterly data revisions.

Key Findings—Oregon August 2024 Employment Data

A Deeper Dive into Oregon Industries (BLS CES Survey) 

Oregon Labor Force Update

Oregon’s LFPR (labor force participation rate) remained unchanged at 63% and in August, while the unemployment rate fell to 4%.

Key Findings—Oregon August ‘24 Labor Force Data (FRED) 

Data Sources

The data in this report are compiled from monthly and annual data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), including data from the Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey and Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS). Some data are sourced directly from BLS, and others are retrieved from FRED.