Oregon's Unemployment Rate Drops in November

Oregon’s unemployment rate dropped to 5.7 percent in November, down from October’s 6.0 percent. The national rate remained at 5.0 percent in November.

Payroll employment shot upward by 9,600 jobs in November. Industries with the largest gains included retail trade (2,400), professional and business services (1,800), and health care and social assistance (1,000). This jump in employment put over-the-year gains at about 58,000, an increase of 3.3 percent since November 2014.

“November’s gains continued to propel Oregon’s rapid job growth,” said Nick Beleiciks, Oregon’s state employment economist. “Although such large preliminary job change estimates are sometimes revised down, Oregon’s job growth persists as being faster than the nation and as strong as the previous expansion.”

Below is a three-month moving average of changes in Oregon’s payroll employment. While job growth has bounced around in the last three months – it declined by 900 in September and grew by 3,900 in October – the average over the past three months sits at 4,200, a strong increase.

Read the full press release: Oregon Employment Department Press Release