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Monday, March 17, 2014

Uneven Recoveries: Clackamas County Trailing Multnomah and Washington Counties

Clackamas County is recovering from the Great Recession. It has added back nearly 5,000 jobs since bottoming out in 2010, or about one-third of recessionary losses. Meanwhile, neighboring Multnomah and Washington counties have made a full jobs recovery, and then some. Employment is thousands of jobs above pre-recession peaks. 


It’s not as if Clackamas County is doing anything ‘wrong’. Multnomah County, with the state’s largest city, is home to a disproportionately large share of Oregon’s professional and business services employment; a sector that has posted solid gains nationally and statewide throughout the recovery.  In Washington County, Intel has been expanding for years. 

Population and housing are also both drivers of economic growth. Clackamas County has experienced solid population growth and a rebound in its housing market. However, the magnitude of each has been greater in Multnomah and Washington counties.

Despite differences in industry and demographic trends, Clackamas County is adding jobs. The recovery is underway in all major private sector industries, manufacturing and retail trade in particular.

For more on the recovery in Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington counties, check out Amy Vander Vliet's full article on QualityInfo.org

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