October (Un)Employment in Oregon's Counties

Benton County continued to have Oregon’s lowest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate (6.2%) in October. While Crook County posted the highest county-level unemployment rate every month from October 2008 through September 2012, Grant County (13.6%) registered the highest rate in October 2012. Fifteen of Oregon’s counties had unemployment rates at or below the statewide rate of 8.6 percent.

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose in five of six Oregon regions between October 2011 and October 2012. The largest job gains were reported in Portland (+1.7%) and the Willamette Valley (+0.9%). Southern Oregon (+0.4%), Central Oregon (+0.4%) and Eastern Oregon (+0.1%) had smaller gains over the year. The Oregon Coast posted the only year-to-year employment loss, with a decline of 0.3 percent.

For additional information in your local area, please visit www.QualityInfo.org and select an area on the Regional Information map. You can also have the latest county employment data emailed to your inbox each month: contact Kathi Riddell (Kathi.R.Riddell@state.or.us | 503-947-1266) to request the "Labor Force and Unemployment by Area" data sheet.