Employment and Unemployment in Oregon's Counties

Benton County continued to have Oregon’s lowest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in May, at 5.8 percent. Harney County (12.9%) registered the highest rate for the month. Fourteen of Oregon’s counties had unemployment rates at or below the statewide rate of 7.8 percent. Lake County saw the largest improvement in its unemployment rate over the year, with a drop of 2.0 percentage points to 11.3 percent in May.

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose in five of Oregon’s six broad regions between May 2012 and May 2013. The largest job gains were reported in Central Oregon (+2.1%). Smaller employment gains occurred over the year in Portland (+1.0%), the Willamette Valley (+1.0%), Southern Oregon (+0.9%), and along the Oregon Coast (+0.4%).

For more employment and unemployment information on Oregon's counties, visit QualityInfo.org and select an area on the Regional Information map.