February 2021 Employment and Unemployment in Oregon’s Counties

In February 2021, 25 out of 36 of Oregon’s counties experienced over-the-month decreases in their unemployment rates. Tillamook and Lincoln counties saw the largest over-the-month decrease, declining 0.5 percentage point each in February.

Clatsop County had Oregon’s highest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in February at 8.1%. Other counties with some of the highest unemployment rates included Lincoln (8.0%), Crook (8.0%), Curry (7.1%), and Union (7.1%).

Wheeler County registered the lowest unemployment rate for the month at 3.7%. Other counties with some of the lowest unemployment rates in February were Sherman (4.1%), Malheur (4.5%), and Lake (4.5%). Nineteen counties had unemployment rates at or below the statewide rate of 6.1%. Twenty counties also had unemployment rates at or below the nationwide rate of 6.2%.

Total nonfarm payroll employment declined in all six of Oregon’s broad regions between February 2020 and February 2021. The largest job losses occurred in the Portland-5 (-9.6%). The Coast (-7.8%), the Willamette Valley (-7.4%), and Central Oregon (-5.5%) also experienced large over-the-year employment losses. Southern Oregon and Eastern Oregon came in at -4.6% and -2.9%, respectively.

Next News Releases

The Oregon Employment Department will release statewide unemployment rate and industry employment data for March 2021 on Tuesday, April 13, 2021. The March 2021 county and metropolitan area unemployment rates will be released on Tuesday, April 20, 2021.

Read the original press release here.