Oregon Loses Nearly 10,000 Manufacturing Jobs Despite Incentives as Tariffs Fuel a Growing Factory Slowdown

Despite huge state incentives to attract the manufacturing sector to Oregon, the state has shed nearly 10,000 factory jobs in the last 12 months.

While the semiconductor industry may not be the largest in the number of people it employs, it is the biggest in dollar value, and has been steadily culling its workforce over the last year.

The Wood Product Manufacturing Sector is the Hardest-Hit

However, it is Oregon’s wood product manufacturing sector that has been hard-hit.

Oregon has the largest concentration of blue-collar jobs among most U.S. states, but last week the Department of Employment revealed that the 177,000 manufacturing posts occupied in September were the lowest number since December 2013. Manufacturing jobs have shrunk by 5% in the past year.

President Donald Trump’s controversial tariff hikes have led to a trade war. He says the move is designed to attract more manufacturing jobs to the country, but has instead resulted in retaliatory tariffs from other countries.

Oregon’s Exports Dropped 19% in the First Nine Months of 2025

Oregon is a trade-dependent state and suffered a 19% drop in exports in the first nine months of 2025.

State economists are concerned about the present trend. They say Oregon factory workers clocked fewer man-hours in recent months, another telltale sign of a worrisome manufacturing sector slowdown.