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.
| Program | What it offers | Scale or term |
|---|---|---|
| Oregon CHIPS Fund | Direct incentives for semiconductor and advanced manufacturing projects | Up to $240 million authorized |
| Strategic Investment Program | Property tax relief for large traded sector capital investments | 15 year partial exemption |
| Enterprise Zone | Property tax exemption on qualifying new plant and equipment | 3 to 5 years (typical standard program) |
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.
Source: Oregon Employment Department, Employment in Oregon (September 2025 release)
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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.
Source: USTR State Benefits of Trade / Oregon export category values for 2024
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According to Oregon Employment Department (OED) economist Gail Krumenauer, in the year ended July 30, 2025, construction shed 900 jobs, the retail sector 3.900 and frozen fruits and vegetables processing 1,000 positions.
Oregon’s wood product manufacturing sector is a significant and globally recognized industry. However, over the last three decades, since 1990, 24,100 workers lost their jobs, representing a staggering 52% labor loss.
To illustrate the severity of the slump in the industry, the number of mills in the western U.S. dropped from 600 to 144.
Wood Manufacturing is the Lifeblood of Many Rural Communities
As the leading U.S. softwood lumber producer, Oregon’s wood product manufacturing industry has provided high-paying jobs for residents of rural communities. As the state’s third-largest manufacturing sector, it plays a vital economic role in supporting financially stressed rural areas.
Oregon rural communities rely heavily on wood manufacturing for their livelihoods. These include counties like Curry, Klamath, and Linn.
With large concentrations of jobs in timber processing, the industry provides higher-than-average wages to communities in southern and eastern sectors of the state.
The industry is expected to gain 3% or 700 jobs by 2033, but sawmills and wood preservation are expected to drop by the same percentage.
Other states aren’t losing manufacturing jobs like Oregon. When the political leaders openly hate corporations and tax them to oblivion, they will go where they can survive and are wanted. If only we had news doing real journalism rather than propaganda telling a narrative.
Looks like Oregon’s Wood Products Employment numbers have been dropping like a rock since 1990. Somehow that is the fault of Trump’s economic policy which has been in effect for less than a year and not at all related to the rules and regulations, and economic and environmental policies of the one-party government which has been in control of the state since…1990.
i agree with Barbara’s assessment. Instead of blaming Trump everytime you turn around look at the IFC Governor of Oregon and her Democrat cronies
You blame Trump for everything! Why not look at the Governor and legislative thieves that want to tax us to death to suppport their perverted distruction of our State. Thirty years ago our buggest question was where to invest our abundance. NOW, we are broke! It was not Trump that did that. While I disagree with a lot of his international leanings, our rot is from within.