May (Un)Employment in Oregon's Counties

This morning the Oregon Employment Department released May unemployment rates and total nonfarm payroll employment for the state's counties and metropolitan areas. Seasonally adjusted unemployment rates were below 10.0 percent in 20 of Oregon’s 36 counties. Gilliam County saw the lowest jobless rate for the month (5.6%), and Crook County had the highest rate (15.1%). In 29 counties across the state, unemployment dropped by 1 percentage point or more over the year. The largest decline occurred in Deschutes County (-2.5 percentage points). Oregon’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 9.3 percent in May, and the U.S. rate was 9.1 percent.
Seasonally adjusted total nonfarm payroll employment declined from May 2010 to May 2011 in four of the state’s six broad regions. Central Oregon saw the largest drop in employment over the year (-1.7%), followed by the combined eastern counties (-1.2%). Smaller losses occurred in the Willamette Valley (-0.7%) and the coast region (-0.4%). A slight employment increase occurred in southern Oregon (+0.1%). The five Portland metro counties posted a combined gain of 0.6 percent.

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