Oregon’s Job Growth Fifth Fastest Among the States

Oregon had the fifth fastest job growth among the states from January 2017 to January 2018. Adding 50,600 jobs for a growth rate of 2.7 percent, Oregon’s solid job growth was slower than first ranked Utah (+3.1%) and neighboring Idaho, Nevada, and Washington, which tied for second with growth rates of 2.8 percent. California ranked seventh with a growth rate of 2.4 percent.

Looking at job growth rankings by industry sector shows that many areas of Oregon’s economy were adding jobs at a fast pace. Four sectors took gold, silver, or bronze in their race to add jobs: other services; private education and health services; leisure and hospitality; and financial activities.

The ambiguously named other services sector grew 5.0 percent in Oregon, enough to earn first place among the states for job growth in that sector. Other services include businesses involved in repair and maintenance, personal and laundry services, and membership associations and organizations. Oregon’s private education and health services sector added jobs at a rate of 4.4 percent over the past year. Only Nevada saw faster growth in this sector, adding jobs at a rate of 5.1 percent. Leisure and hospitality’s job growth rate of 4.8 percent was the second fastest among the states. It followed Utah, where leisure and hospitality grew 6.0 percent. Financial activities in Oregon added jobs at a rate of 3.0 percent, fast enough to tie for third place with New Mexico behind Idaho (5.2%) and Arizona (3.4%).

Read more about Oregon's job growth in the article written by State Employment Economist Nick Beleiciks.