February Employment and Unemployment in Oregon’s Counties

The Oregon Employment Department is releasing employment and labor force data for the month of February today. These numbers will not capture any of the economic impacts of COVID-19. Our employment and labor force data will capture current COVID-19 events in the April data to be released in May. The most current labor force data we are able to publish are initial claims for unemployment data.

Record Initial Unemployment Insurance Claims in Oregon During the week of March 15-21, 2020, the Oregon Employment Department processed around 22,800 Unemployment Insurance claims, four times more than the 4,900 processed the week prior. The department received a total of 76,500 claims online and by phone, around 20 times the workload experienced in a typical week. The Employment Department is rapidly redeploying its staff, opening additional phone lines, and hiring new staff in an attempt to address this unprecedented surge in claims. The department is still offering job seeker and employer services with additional, socially distanced options. We are present to help Oregonians who have experienced tremendous disruptions, while also doing our part to follow health and safety guidelines for our communities.

More information on Unemployment Insurance benefits can be found here: https://govstatus.egov.com/ORUnemployment_COVID19

Data and analysis related to COVID-19 can be found here: https://www.qualityinfo.org/covid-19

February Employment and Unemployment
In February, Benton County had Oregon’s lowest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate at 2.7 percent. Other counties with some of the lowest unemployment rates in February include Washington (2.9%), Hood River (2.9%), and Multnomah (3.0%). Eight counties had unemployment rates below the national rate of 3.5 percent. Six counties also had unemployment rates at or below the statewide rate of 3.3 percent. Grant and Klamath counties registered the highest unemployment rates for the month at 6.1 percent. Other counties with some of the highest unemployment rates in February were Wallowa (5.3%) and Crook (5.0%).

In February 2020, all but one of Oregon’s counties were at or below their unemployment rates for February 2019. Sherman County’s unemployment rate increased 0.2 percentage point from February 2019 to 4.1 percent. Harney County’s unemployment rate decreased the most, dropping 2.1 percentage points from 6.6 percent in February 2019 to 4.5 percent in February 2020. Total nonfarm payroll employment rose in six of Oregon’s broad regions between February 2019 and February 2020. The largest job gains occurred in the Willamette Valley (+1.7%). The Portland region (+1.3%) and Central Oregon (+1.0%) also experienced some of the largest over-the-year employment gains.

Next News Releases 
The Oregon Employment Department will release statewide unemployment rate and industry employment data for March 2020 on Tuesday, April 14, 2020. The March 2020 county and metropolitan area unemployment rates will be released on Tuesday, April 21, 2020.

Read the full press release here.