Oregon's Unemployment Rate Increases More Than Any Other State Over 12 Months

Employment
Nonfarm payroll employment decreased in 44 states and the District of Columbia, and rose in 6 states. Over the year, nonfarm employment declined in 48 states and increased in 2 states and the District of Columbia. The largest over-the-year percentage decreases in employment occurred in Arizona (-6.9%), Michigan (-6.8%), Nevada (-6.1%), and Oregon (-5.6%). North Dakota (+0.6%) experienced the largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment, followed by the District of Columbia (+0.1%) and Alaska (less than +0.1%).

Unemployment
In April, 21 states recorded over-the-month unemployment rate decreases, 18 states and the District of Columbia registered rate increases, and11 states had no rate change, the BLS reported today. Oregon had the nation's second highest unemployment rate (12.0%), behind Michigan (12.9%). However, Oregon's unemployment rate increased more over-the-year (+6.4%) than any other state. Unemployment rates were up in all 50 states and the District of Columbia since last April.

Mass Layoffs
Across the nation employers took 2,712 mass layoff actions in April that resulted in the separation of 271,226 workers, seasonally adjusted. A "mass layoff" is when 50 people from a single employer are cut loose. Since the beginning of the recession the total number of mass layoff events was 34,126, and the number of initial unemployment claims was 3,498,427.

Other Stuff
The U.S. Census Bureau will update its address list of the nation's approximately 130 million housing units in spring 2009. Census workers will use confidential and secure GPS-equipped hand-held computers to verify, add, and delete addresses.

An accurate address list ensures that every household receives a census questionnaire in 2010. To complete this task, the Census Bureau is offering 140,000 temporary jobs with competitive wages and flexible schedules.