The U.S. added 321,000 jobs in November, which was a strong gain. Oregon also saw a strong gain in October, adding 9,900 jobs. Both Oregon and the U.S. have seen solid job growth in the preceding months, but Oregon has been adding jobs at a faster pace than the nation for nearly two years (since February 2013, over-the-year growth has been faster in Oregon). Oregon’s October 2013 to October 2014 growth was 2.9 percent. The U.S. over-the-year growth was 2.0 percent in both October and November.
The national unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.8 percent in November. Oregon’s unemployment rate was unchanged at 7.0 percent in October. Both unemployment rates are remaining stable despite the job growth because the labor force is growing to fill the new jobs. A difference between Oregon’s labor force and the U.S. labor force is that Oregon’s labor force participation rate is rising (61.8% in Oct., +0.7 over the year), while the U.S. participation rate is essentially unchanged (62.8% in both October and November., -0.2 over the year).
The most recent forecast from the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis predicts similar job growth in 2015 (+2.6%), with the unemployment falling just slightly (6.7%) as the labor force continues to grow.
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