The Oregon Employment Department has
just released the July employment numbers. This is a one-tenth of a percentage point gain from the revised June numbers, but is essentially stuck and has been for nine months. The jobs number is bad: 3,000 jobs lost in July, but the revised June number is now 1,800 new jobs added, so the net effect is minimal.
Manufacturing and construction actually added 4,000 jobs while government shed 3,500 jobs including, but not limited to, census workers.
Once again, we appear to be stuck, stuck, stuck (as does the US economy) and there is no real reason to believe it will get better soon. One hopes the federal government will come through with more aid to the states in the form of block grants, but there does not seem to be much momentum for this on Capital Hill.
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