September Unemployment Rates Lowest in Benton and Hood River Counties

Benton County and Hood River County had Oregon’s lowest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in September at 4.5 percent. Grant County (7.9%) registered the highest rate for the month. Eleven of 36 Oregon’s counties had unemployment rates at or below the statewide rate of 5.5 percent, and six were at or below the national rate of 5.0 percent. Douglas County saw its unemployment rate improve over the year by 0.9 percentage point, more than any other county.

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose in all of Oregon’s six broad regions between September 2015 and September 2016. The largest job gains occurred in Central Oregon (+5.1%). Southern Oregon (+3.2%), the Willamette Valley (+3.1%), Portland (+2.1%), the Oregon Coast (+2.0%), and Eastern Oregon (+1.6%) also saw growth.