Central Oregon’s seasonally adjusted payroll employment dropped by 690 in September reports Damon Runberg, Regional Economist serving the East Cascades, Oregon Employment Department. “This was the largest decline since the depths of the recession. These monthly job losses in September drastically slowed our rate of job growth over the past year.
“Although September’s losses were significant, these estimates are preliminary and subject to revision.”
Deschutes County posted the largest monthly job losses on a seasonally adjusted basis since the recession. The rate of job growth in Jefferson County was essentially cut in half from what it was just three months ago. Meanwhile, Crook County has seen no substantive improvement to its employment picture over the past year.
Crook County:
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained unchanged at 8.8percent in September. The rate was down from last year when it was 9.7 percent, not a statistically significant decline.
Crook County added40 jobs in September; slightly less than the expected gain of 60 jobs this time of year. Monthly gains were concentrated in education with the beginning of the new school year.
Employment levels remained down from this time last year (-70 jobs). Excluding layoffs in wood product manufacturing the county was up 110 jobs. Most private sector industries added jobs from last September, highlighted by large gains in retail, leisure and hospitality, and construction.
Deschutes County (Bend-Redmond MSA):
There continues to be little improvement to the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, which remained essentially unchanged at 6.6percent in September. The rate was down from this time last year when it was 7.5 percent, not a statistically significant decline.
Deschutes County posted significant job losses in September. The seasonally adjusted decline of 660 jobs last month represented the largest monthly decline since the recession. However, seasonally adjusted employment levels remain up significantly in 2015. September’s losses were concentrated in leisure and hospitality as we ended the summer tourism season. Losses were also seen in retail, professional and business services, and manufacturing. Most job gains were concentrated in education.
Over-the-year job growth showed signs of slowing, although employment levels remained up by 2,780 jobs. The slowing job growth is primarily due to weaker than normal hiring in local education this school year. Most private industries added jobs over the past year. Construction, health, tourism, and retail posted the largest job gains.
Jefferson County:
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate ticked up to 7.7 percent from 7.5 percent in August. Upward pressure on the unemployment rate is likely from new entrants into the labor market as the labor pool expands. The unemployment rate remains down significantly from last September (8.9%).
Jefferson County added90 jobs in September, fairly typical gains for this time of year.
Jefferson County’s employment levels remain up from last year, but the rate of job growth is slowing. Employment was up 3.4 percent from last year, down from the 7.0 percent growth between June 2014 and June 2015.. We continue to see modest growth across most private industries with the exception of transportation, warehousing, and utilities (-30 jobs).
