Wow. Another stellar jobs report out of Salem. 7,200 new jobs in April on a seasonally-adjusted basis led by health care, manufacturing, and professional and business services. Yay, finally, no more cheerleading about the great growth in leisure and hospitality.
[Ed. note: use of the serial or 'Oxford' comma, discouraged by my grade school teachers, has apparently become the norm based on the bridges comma worksheet my third grader brought home yesterday. I shall adjust the Oregon Economics Blog style guide accordingly. However, old habits die hard and let's just say this blog is 'lightly' edited, so don't expect me to be to beholden to all the latest fads in grammar!]
Where was I? Oh, yes, jobs = good. The April unemployment rate is now down to pre-recession numbers matching the rate of July 2007.
So what of the future? Well, Oregon, which relies heavily on trade is still benefitting from the strong link with Asia and the forecast is brightening in the short and medium run (though I am still a long run skeptic, but in long-run I mean a time period I am unlikely to see) Which leads us to the TPP. I am in favor. Partly this can be explained by my being an economist and understanding the fundamental gains from trade that benefit all participants. But I am also an international development economist that believes that the future of growth and prosperity in the lower income world comes from economic integration with the high income world.
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