October 2019 Employment and Unemployment in Oregon’s Counties

Benton County had Oregon’s lowest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate at 3.3 percent in October 2019. Other counties with some of the lowest unemployment rates in October included Hood River (3.4%), Washington (3.4%), and Multnomah (3.5%). These four counties had unemployment rates below the national rate of 3.6 percent. Ten of Oregon’s counties had unemployment rates at or below the statewide rate of 4.1 percent.

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose in all six of Oregon’s broad regions between October 2018 and October 2019. The largest job gains occurred in Central Oregon (+2.5%). Southern Oregon (+1.1%), the Portland area (+0.9%), the Willamette Valley (+0.8%), the Coast (+0.8%), and Eastern Oregon (+0.5%) also saw employment growth over the past year.

Read the full press release here.