March 2022 Employment and Unemployment in Oregon’s Counties

In March, unemployment rates declined in 35 of Oregon’s 36 counties. Wheeler County’s unemployment did not decline, but held steady over the month. Fifteen counties had unemployment rates at or below the statewide rate of 3.8% in March.

Klamath County had Oregon’s highest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate (5.3%) in March. Other counties with relatively high unemployment rates were Curry (5.1%), Lincoln (5.0%), and Grant (5.0%). Benton County registered the lowest unemployment in March, at 2.9%. Other counties with some of the lowest unemployment rates in March included Hood River (3.0%), Wheeler (3.0%), and Washington (3.1%).

Between March 2021 and March 2022, total nonfarm employment rose in each of the six broad regions across Oregon. The five Portland metro counties in Oregon had combined job growth of 4.2% over the year, the fastest rate of any region. Employment also grew at a relatively fast pace in the Central Oregon region (3.8%) and the Willamette Valley (3.7%). Growth occurred at a slower pace in Eastern Oregon (1.8%), Southern Oregon (1.1%), and along the Coast (0.4%).

Next News Releases

The Oregon Employment Department will release statewide unemployment rate and industry employment data for April 2022 on Wednesday, May 18, 2022. The April 2022 county and metropolitan area unemployment rates will be released on Tuesday, May 24, 2022.

Read the original press release here. 

August 2021 Employment and Unemployment in Oregon’s Counties

 In August 2021, all but two of Oregon’s 36 counties experienced over-the-month decreases in their unemployment rates. The unemployment rates in Harney and Wallowa counties remained unchanged.  Clatsop County saw the largest decrease over the month with a decline of 0.5 percentage point.

Lincoln County had Oregon’s highest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in August at 6.9%. Other counties with some of the highest unemployment rates included Crook (6.8%), Klamath (6.8%), Curry (6.7%), and Grant (6.7%) counties. 

Wheeler County registered the lowest unemployment rate for the month at 3.0%. Other counties with some of the lowest unemployment rates in August were Benton (3.8%), Sherman (4.1%), and Malheur (4.4%) counties. Sixteen counties had unemployment rates at or below the nationwide rate of 5.2%, and 10 counties had unemployment rates below the statewide rate of 4.9%.

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased in all six of Oregon’s broad regions between August 2020 and August 2021. Most areas still have room to recover from pandemic job losses; the state has now recovered 72% of jobs lost in March and April 2020. The largest job increases since August 2020 occurred in the Willamette Valley (4.5%). The Coast (4.1%), Southern Oregon (3.6%), and Central Oregon (3.2%) also experienced large over-the-year employment increases. Eastern Oregon and the Portland-5 regions added 2.8% and 2.6%, respectively.

Read the original local press release.

July 2021 Employment and Unemployment in Oregon’s Counties

In July 2021, all but one of Oregon’s 36 counties experienced over-the-month decreases in their unemployment rates. The unemployment rate in Lake County experienced no over-the-month change to its unemployment rate. Jackson and Multnomah counties saw the largest decrease over the month with a change of -0.5 percentage point.

Lincoln County had Oregon’s highest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in July at 7.2%. Other counties with some of the highest unemployment rates included Crook (7.0%), Curry (7.0%), Klamath (7.0%), and Grant (6.9%) counties.

Wheeler County registered the lowest unemployment rate for the month at 3.2%. Other counties with some of the lowest unemployment rates in July were Benton (4.1%), Malheur (4.3%), and Sherman (4.4%) counties. Fifteen counties had unemployment rates at or below the nationwide rate of 5.4%, and 12 counties had unemployment rates below the statewide rate of 5.2%.

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased in all six of Oregon’s broad regions between July 2020 and July 2021. Most areas still have room to recover from pandemic job losses; the state has now recovered 70% of jobs lost in March and April 2020. The largest job increases since July 2020 occurred on the Coast (6.2%). Southern Oregon (4.9%), the Willamette Valley (4.8%), and Central Oregon (4.6%) also experienced large over-the-year employment increases. Eastern Oregon and the Portland-5 regions added 3.6% and 3.5%, respectively.

Read the original press release here.

June 2021 Employment and Unemployment in Oregon’s Counties

In June 2021, all but two of Oregon’s counties experienced over-the-month decreases in their unemployment rates. The unemployment rate in Sherman County did not change, and in Lake County it increased by 0.1 percentage point. Clatsop, Multnomah, and Wheeler counties saw the largest decrease over the month with a change of -0.4 percentage points.

Lincoln County had Oregon’s highest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in June at 7.7%. Other counties with some of the highest unemployment rates included Crook (7.4%), Curry (7.3%), Klamath (7.2%), and Grant (7.2%) counties. 

Wheeler County registered the lowest unemployment rate for the month at 3.5%. Other counties with some of the lowest unemployment rates in June were Benton (4.4%), Sherman (4.6%), and Malheur (4.6%) counties. Nineteen counties had unemployment rates at or below the nationwide rate of 5.9%, and 14 counties had unemployment rates below the statewide rate of 5.6%.

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased in all six of Oregon’s broad regions between June 2020 and June 2021. Most areas still have room to recover from pandemic job losses; the state has now recovered 64% of jobs lost in March and April 2020. The largest job increases since June 2020 occurred on the Coast (7.1%). Central Oregon (6.5%), the Willamette Valley (5.2%), and Eastern Oregon (4.4%) also experienced large over-the-year employment increases. Southern Oregon and the Portland-5 regions added 3.8% and 3.5%, respectively.

Read the original press release here.