October 2017 Employment and Unemployment in Oregon’s Counties

Crook and Curry counties have registered the highest unemployment rates in October 2017 at 6.5 percent. Benton County had Oregon’s lowest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate at 3.3 percent. Other counties with some of the lowest unemployment rates include Washington and Hood River, each with an unemployment rate of 3.7 percent.

Nine of Oregon’s counties had unemployment rates below the statewide unemployment rate of 4.3 percent and seven counties had unemployment rates at or below the national rate of 4.1 percent. Wallowa County saw its unemployment rate improve over the year by 1.1 percentage points, more than any other county. Other counties that saw a large improvement in their unemployment rates were Gilliam and Grant, where the unemployment rates improved by 1.0 percentage point over the year.

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose in all of Oregon’s six broad regions between October 2016 and October 2017. The largest job gains occurred in Central Oregon (+2.9%). The Willamette Valley (+2.4%), Portland (+2.0%), Southern Oregon (+1.8%), Eastern Oregon (+1.5%), and the Oregon Coast (+1.1%) also saw growth. 

To learn more about the employment situation for your county, click here. To see the full press release, click here.