Oregon Job Report Shows Split Economy as Health Care Grows While Office and Factory Jobs Fall

Oregon’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.2% in April, but the jobs report shows a split economy: health care keeps expanding, while office jobs, manufacturing, and retail continue to lose ground.

Oregon Unemployment Rate

Sticking at 5.2% for another month- it’s now 4 in a row- Oregon’s unemployment rate continued to lag behind the national rate that stayed at 4.3% in both March and April.

The state’s seasonally adjusted nonfarm payroll employment rose by 500 jobs, after a loss of 4,300 jobs in March.

The largest losses prevailed in professional and business services (-1,000 jobs, financial activities (-900), and retail trade (-800). But April’s gains were largest in health care and social assistance (+1,900 jobs) and construction (+800), as health care worker shortages continue to plague the state.

Health care and social assistance added 12,500 jobs, or 4.0% over the last year, bringing the total jobs added for the past four years to 58,100 jobs, or 21.7%, since April 2022. Within this sector:

• Social assistance added 5,500 jobs ( 6.6%)
• Nursing and residential care facilities added 2,800 jobs (4.7%)
• Ambulatory health care services added 2,500 jobs (2.3%)
• Hospitals added 800 jobs (1.2%).

But other sectors continued to shed jobs in the last year:

• Professional and business cut 9,300 jobs, or 3.6%, specifically in:
  • Administrative and waste services (-4,300 jobs, or -4.4%)
  • Professional and technical services (-3,200 jobs, or -2.9%)
  • Management of companies and enterprises (-1,800 jobs, or -3.7%).
• Durable goods manufacturing cut 5,500 jobs, or 4.4%
• Nondurable goods manufacturing cut 1,500 jobs, or 2.7%.
• Manufacturing employment dropped by 400 jobs in April, continuing the downward trajectory of the last three years.