Oregon’s unemployment rate climbed to 5.2% in September, according to newly released data, but the state added jobs thanks to big gains in the health care sector.
The jobs numbers were delayed for several weeks by the prolonged shutdown of the federal government. The data released Wednesday by the Oregon Employment Department is the first look at the state’s labor market in months.
The numbers are a mixed bag. They show unemployment climbed by 0.2 percentage points amid a historic surge in layoffs. Oregon employers have reported nearly 9,000 layoffs this year.
Oregon’s jobless rate is at its highest point since the period immediately after the pandemic recession and well above the national rate, 4.4%.
The hospitality, manufacturing and financial sectors all lost jobs compared to August.
Overall, though, Oregon gained 3,300 jobs in September. That includes 1,300 new jobs in the health care sector, which has been the state’s strongest industry over the past year. It grew by 3.7% compared to September 2024.
Oregon is still waiting on updated federal data and won’t have jobs data for October and November until early next month.