March 2018 Employment and Unemployment in Oregon’s Counties

Wheeler County had Oregon’s lowest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate at 2.9 percent in March 2018. Other counties with some of the lowest unemployment rates in March included Benton (3.1%) and Hood River (3.2%). 

Eastern and Southern Oregon had higher unemployment rates in March 2018, which were still close to their record low unemployment rates since 1990. Grant County registered the highest unemployment rate for the month at 7.3 percent.

Ten of Oregon’s counties had unemployment rates at or below the statewide and national unemployment rate of 4.1 percent. Wheeler County saw its unemployment rate improve over the year by 1.4 percentage points, more than any other county. Josephine County saw its unemployment rate increase the most of any county over the past year, rising 0.8 percentage point to 5.3 percent.

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