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Oregon unemployment rate shows slight drop for November

December 18, 2012

Oregon's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for November was 8.4 percent, essentially unchanged from 8.6 percent in October. The November 2011 unemployment rate was 9.1 percent.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, preliminary estimates from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicate nonfarm payroll employment in Oregon rose by 600 jobs in November. The private sector added 1,400 jobs over the month, while the public sector declined by 800.

Revised estimates for October show a loss of only 800 jobs, when a loss of 2,400 was initially reported. Upward revisions were largest in professional and business services and in leisure and hospitality.

Over the past year, the BLS estimates from November 2011 to November 2012 show a seasonally adjusted job gain of 18,700, or 1.2 percent, for Oregon's nonfarm payroll employment. During that time the private sector added an estimated 20,500 jobs (+1.5%), while government lost 1,800 jobs ( 0.6%).

The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that manufacturing has added to payrolls all year. Employment was up 5,000, or 3.0 percent, since November 2011. The sectors with the largest over-the-year increases included wood products (+500 jobs), fabricated metal products (+700), machinery (+800), and food manufacturing (+1,800). Despite these gains in recent months, manufacturing, at 169,900 jobs in November, was still well below its recent peak employment of 213,000 in August 2006.

Seasonally adjusted employment in construction has hovered close to 70,000 over the past three years. In November, this measure of construction employment dipped to 68,400, which tied March as the low point for the year. Apparently, rapid gains in statewide multi-unit and single-unit building permits this year have yet to translate to substantial net employment gains in the construction industry. The industry remains well below its record employment readings of more than 100,000 that were seen throughout much of 2006 and 2007.