February 2016 Employment and Unemployment in Oregon’s Counties

Wheeler County had Oregon’s lowest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in February at 3.3 percent. Grant County (8.0%) registered the highest rate for the month. Ten of Oregon’s counties had unemployment rates at or below the statewide rate of 4.8 percent and thirteen were at or below the national rate of 4.9 percent. Grant County saw the largest improvement in its unemployment rate over the year with a drop of 2.2 percentage points.

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose in all of Oregon’s six broad regions between February 2015 and February 2016. The largest job gains occurred in Central Oregon (+3.8%). Southern Oregon (+2.6%), Portland (+2.6%), the Willamette Valley (+2.3%), Eastern Oregon (+1.9%), and the Oregon Coast (+1.4%) also saw growth.

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