Pages

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

2009 Retail Holiday Wrap-Up

The retail industry employed 191,400 Oregonians in December 2009, 14.5 percent of the state's private employment. Still, employment was down 2.6 percent (-5,200 jobs) from December 2008. However, this decline was much less than the 6.8 percent employment loss Oregon's retail industry saw between December 2007 and 2008.

Oregon's retail industry performed slightly better than the national retail industry during the 2009 holiday season. Nationwide, employment dropped by 2.8 percent from December 2008.

Bend performed the best of all the state's metropolitan areas.

Short term employment projections from Oregon's Office of Economic Analysis show an increase of 1,700 retail jobs between the fourth quarter of 2009 and 2010, a slight gain of 0.9 percent. Increased consumer confidence could spur greater retail spending in the coming year.

There are more details available in the full article, written by Workforce Analyst Jill Cuyler of Portland!

No comments: