University of Oregon Indexes Show Regional Differences

The University of Oregon (UO) released its regional economic indexes for March. Index creator and news release author Tim Duy noted that economic fortunes continued to differ across Oregon, but that all regions showed improvement from the prior year.

For the UO regional indexes, a "zero" reading represents average growth; a positive reading means above-average regional growth, and negative readings indicate below-average growth. In March, regional economic measures ranged from 0.73 in Portland to -0.77 in the Rogue Valley. Duy also noted that the Rogue Valley and Salem measures were negatively impacted by labor force declines in March; this trend has been evident recently across Oregon and may suggest lower longer-term growth if not reversed.

More information on the regional indexes is available in the full release.