January 2018 Employment and Unemployment in Oregon’s Counties

Benton County had Oregon’s lowest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate at 2.9 percent in January 2018. Other counties with some of the lowest unemployment rates in January include Wheeler (3.0%) and Hood River (3.2%).

Eastern and Southern Oregon had higher unemployment rates in January 2018, some of which were still at or close to their record low unemployment rates since 1990. Grant County registered the highest unemployment rate for the month at 6.7 percent.

Sixteen of Oregon’s counties had unemployment rates at or below the statewide and national unemployment rate of 4.1 percent. Harney County saw its unemployment rate increase over the year by 0.5 percentage point. All other counties in the state saw improvements in the unemployment rate over the past year. Wheeler County improved 1.4 percentage points, more than any other county.

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