June 2018 Employment and Unemployment in Oregon’s Counties

Benton County had Oregon’s lowest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate at 2.9 percent in June 2018. Other counties with some of the lowest unemployment rates in June included Gilliam and Hood River, with 3.1 percent.

Eastern and Southern Oregon had higher unemployment rates in June 2018, which were still close to their record low unemployment rates since 1990. Grant County registered the highest unemployment rate for the month at 6.5 percent and is close to its lowest unemployment rate on record of 6.4 percent in October 2017.

Fourteen of Oregon’s counties had unemployment rates at or below the statewide and national unemployment rates of 4.0 percent. Gilliam County saw its unemployment rate improve over the year by 1.0 percentage point, more than any other county.

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose or remained unchanged in all of Oregon’s six broad regions between June 2017 and June 2018. The largest job gains occurred in Central Oregon (+2.9%) and Southern Oregon (+2.8%). The Willamette Valley (+1.7%), the Portland area (+1.3%), and the Oregon Coast (+0.9%) also added jobs. Eastern Oregon saw no change in employment.

Press releases on employment and unemployment for a specific county are available here.