Oregon employers added 6,900 net jobs in August, according to preliminary state figures, the biggest gain in 32 months.
Unemployment was 5.0%, though, the highest level since the pandemic and up slightly from July’s revised figures. And the latest jobs numbers don’t appear to account for 2,400 layoffs at Intel, cuts that began in July but may not show up in the state data until laid-off workers exhaust months of severance payments.
Oregon’s labor market has been stalled since the beginning of 2023, with the manufacturing and construction sectors under particular strain. The state has been hobbled by historic setbacks in the semiconductor industry, elevated interest rates and stagnant population growth.
Employers have laid off more than 11,000 Oregon workers since early 2024, a pace comparable to the worst days of the Great Recession.
August’s preliminary numbers show some signs of economic strength, with strong growth in health care jobs, the hospitality sector, government work and some service sectors.
Monthly data is highly variable and subject to revision, so it may be some time before it’s clear whether Oregon’s labor market has genuinely improved.
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