Fast Facts on Oregon's (Un)Employment Rankings

In recent days we've posted about the employment situation for Oregon and its counties and metropolitan areas. Let's take a look at how Oregon's stats stack up to other states.

At 8.9 percent, Oregon's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate ranked 13th highest among all states and the District of Columbia in August. While Oregon's unemployment rate sits 3.2 percentage points below the highest rate (12.1% in Nevada), it's a distant 5.9 percentage points higher than the lowest rate recorded in August (3.0% in North Dakota).

On the bright side, Oregon outperformed most states and matched the U.S. in terms of nonfarm payroll employment growth in August. Oregon posted 1.4 percent job growth from August 2011 to August 2012. That ranked 15th fastest among all states and the District of Columbia. 

Several of Oregon's industries also posted favorable growth rates when compared with their counterparts in other states. For instance, construction* employment grew by 3.3 percent over the year, the eighth fastest among all states' construction sectors. In addition, the year-over-year growth in Oregon's trade, transportation, and utilities (+2.4%) and information (+4.3%) sectors ranked 10th and 11th fastest among all states in their respective categories.

You can get Fast Facts about employment and unemployment in Oregon delivered directly to your inbox each month. Contact LmiPubs.Emp@state.or.us for more information!

*only 44 states report employment in construction