July 2018 Employment and Unemployment in Oregon’s Counties

Benton County had Oregon’s lowest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate at 2.7 percent in July 2018. Other counties with some of the lowest unemployment rates in July included Hood River (3.1%), Washington (3.2%), and Wheeler (3.3%).

Eastern and Southern Oregon had higher unemployment rates in July 2018, which were still close to their record low unemployment rates since 1990. Grant County registered the highest unemployment rate for the month at 6.2 percent.

Fourteen of Oregon’s counties had unemployment rates at or below the statewide and national unemployment rate of 3.9 percent. Gilliam and Crook counties saw their unemployment rates improve over the year by 0.9 percentage point, more than any other county.

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose in all six of Oregon’s broad regions between July 2017 and July 2018. The largest job gains occurred in Central Oregon (+3.3%). Southern Oregon (+2.7%), the Willamette Valley (+2.5%), the Portland area (+1.8%), the Oregon Coast (+1.1%), and Eastern Oregon (0.5%) also added jobs.

Full press release is available here.