Oregon’s unemployment rate improved last month, falling from 4% to 3.7% from April to May, according to figures released by state officials Wednesday. Over that same time, the national jobless rate went in the other direction, rising from 3.4% to 3.7%.
Oregon’s unemployment rate has improved by a full percentage point since February, when it was 4.7%.
Still, senior economic analyst at the Oregon Employment Department Anna Johnson said job growth in the state is not as rapid as it was a few months ago.
“Oregon’s unemployment rate remains low by historical standards and we’re still seeing job growth post the pandemic recession, although it’s been a bit slower in recent months,” Johnson said in a recorded interview with the employment department.
Overall, the state has added more than 39,000 jobs since May 2022, continuing a long employment recovery since the pandemic devastated the job market in March 2020.
Among the employment sectors adding at least 1,000 jobs last month were financial activities, leisure and hospitality and the transportation and utilities sector.
A few sectors went the other direction, including retail trade, which lost about 500 jobs, according to the state.
And while non-government jobs rebounded fully by last September according to state officials, public sector employment is only now coming out of its hole.
“Local government, at 229,700 jobs in May, was back near its pre-recession total,” the employment department said in a press release. “This sector, which includes schools and city and county governments, took about three years to fully rebound from the Pandemic Recession cutbacks during 2020.”