Check out this fantastic article about Oregon's economy for 2013. Job growth, lower unemployment rates, and a hopeful outlook for Oregon's economy in 2014!
Oregon's economic rebound reaches more people in 2013, building momentum into 2014
Oregon’s economic recovery shifted into second gear in 2013.
New
data shows the state gained nearly as many jobs last year -- 37,700 --
as in the previous two years combined. Hiring outpaced the national
average, and unemployment fell by more than a percentage point, to 7.0
percent, after stalling for much of 2012.
The economy has added back jobs in 13 of the past 15 months.
What
set 2013 apart, said state economist Mark McMullen, is that some of the
industries and regions left out of the early recovery are now bouncing
back, too.
Job gains are spreading beyond the Willamette Valley, and to some of the sectors hardest hit in the recession, such as housing.
The
widespread growth should carry over into 2014, McMullen said. “Now that
we’re getting more of our economy online, we’re starting to see more
typical growth rates for recovery.”
What was a stop-and-start comeback hit greenlights in recent months.
December was no exception.
Employers added an estimated 4,400 jobs in Oregon last month, after adjusting for seasonal norms. The better-than-average showing was a
contrast to a nationwide hiring slowdown.
The
jobless rate, meanwhile, fell from 7.3 percent in November to 7.0
percent. The measure has fallen to a new five year low for several
months running, dropping from from 8.1 percent to 7.0 percent since
August.
It was 8.3 percent a year ago. It’s now the lowest it's been since August 2008, just months before the recession began.
Hiring
started picking up this fall throughout the state, and has held steady.
Analysts say Oregon gained a revised 4,300 jobs in November, roughly
equal to December's gain.
Over the past year, employers have added 3,100 jobs, on average, every month.
The
2.3 percent growth rate outpaced the national average of 1.6 percent.
“2013 finally brought some real job growth to Oregon’s economy,” said
Nick Beleiciks, a labor economist at the Oregon Employment Department.
While the private sector contributed most of those gains, government
cuts have slowed, meaning public agencies were less of a drag than they
had been. The leveling off of local cuts has been especially important
for rural economies, McMullen said.
Rural areas are starting to
post year-over-year gains, he said, as are metro areas outside of
Portland including Salem, Medford and Bend. A more detailed report of
annual metro-area growth will be released Monday.
Construction is also bouncing back. Though
it slowed in December, it has added 6,800 jobs in the past year,
boosting its employment base by nearly 10 percent. Though it was the
fastest-growing major industry in the state, it still has a long way to
go before again reaching its pre-recession highs.
The
professional business services industry, which includes tech,
engineering, architectural and legal firms, has added 7,500 jobs since
December 2012 and now employs the most workers ever. It expanded 3.8
percent last year, making it the fastest-growing major industry in the
state.
Still, there are signs that the economy is far from healed.
- About
142,000 Oregon workers are underemployed, meaning they are scraping by
with fewer hours than they want either because their hours were cut at
work or full-time work wasn’t available.
- Another
132,000 people are completely out of work, and about 31 percent share of
those workers have been unemployed for six months or longer. About
17,800 of those workers lost benefits when the federal extensions for
unemployment aid weren’t renewed.
- Even more workers
have exited the workforce entirely, and the percentage of working-age
adults is at its lowest point in 37 years: 61.0 percent. The labor force
drain is one of the reasons the unemployment rate is falling so
rapidly. Some of the reasons behind the decline aren’t so bad -- baby
boomers are aging into retirement. But some people are still leaving the
workforce out of frustration.
As the economy continues to
improve, McMullen said, some of those workers should start coming back
into the labor force. It’s unclear if and when those people will start
showing up in the data, however.
But the economy should keep doing its part and continue its steady growth rate, McMullen said.
--Molly Young
To connect to the site click
here
