The Oregon unemployment rate is essentially stuck in the mid-nine percent range. It has been there for five months and this month it inches up marginally to 9.6%. On the jobs front, the seasonally adjusted payroll numbers rose by 800, following a newly revised July loss of 3,300. Relative to past performance, construction was down sharply, while professional and business services employment grew more than is typical. Government employment is off by 7,700 jobs over the last five months while private employment grew each of the last five months.
The local story is essentially the same as the national story: the economy is not creating jobs at the moment, leaving us stuck at the bottom of a very large hole dug by the financial meltdown and subsequent recession. We just aren't making any substantial progress and as the federal government switches from stimulus to austerity there is little hope of a near-term recovery.
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