Oregon added 9,900 jobs in October

The state's payroll employment shot up by 9,900 in October. Most major industries added jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis, with three showing solid strength: professional and business services (+2,700 jobs); manufacturing (+2,200); and health care and social assistance (+2,000).

Professional and business services accelerated its hiring trend in recent months. Its 2,700-job gain in October was the largest of the major industries. Over the past 12 months it added 12,600 jobs, which is more than one-quarter of all of Oregon’s over-the-year payroll employment gain.

The companies in this broad industry include services firms such as legal, engineering, computer systems design, corporate offices, employment services, business support, and building services.

Two industries within professional and business services grew at especially fast rates over the past year. Employment services, which includes employee leasing and temporary help supply, added 3,700 jobs or 9.9 percent. Services to buildings and dwellings added 1,300 jobs or 6.4 percent.

Another sign of an improving labor market is declining long-term unemployment. The number of Oregonians unemployed for more than 27 weeks declined steadily over the past four years. In October, approximately 33,000 Oregonians had been unemployed for 27 weeks or more. This is down from more than 100,000 during much of 2010.

You can find more information about Oregon's employment situation in today's video news conference and full written release. Both are available on the press release page of www.QualityInfo.org.