Oregon's economy cools off in June
Tuesday, July 18, 2006 7:36 AM PDT
By Associated Press
Printable version
E-mail this articleSALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Oregon's unemployment rate dropped slightly in June, but there were signs that job growth was beginning to slow a bit after two years of strong gains, the Oregon Employment Department said Monday.
"It looks like Oregon's economy is cooling off somewhat, just like the national economy," department economist David Cooke said.
In its monthly jobs report, the department said Oregon's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in June was 5.4 percent, down from 5.6 percent in May. The state's unemployment rate has been stable this year, with the rate staying between 5.3 percent and 5.6 percent since January.
The national employment rate, meanwhile, was unchanged at 4.6 percent last month.
The state's latest unemployment rate translates to 103,495 Oregonians on the jobless rolls last month, compared with 118,353 a year ago.
The employment agency said nonfarm payroll employment has slowed in recent months, in part because of a cooling off in housing-related sectors. The construction industry, for example, posted a seasonally adjusted decline of 700 jobs in June, the agency said.
Looking at overall jobs trends, the agency said that in April, seasonally adjusted employment statewide dropped by 500 jobs. This was followed by a large gain of 8,300 in May, and then a drop of 2,800 jobs in June.
That put the number of people holding jobs in Oregon at 1.709 million in June, up 5,000 over the March figure.
Over the past three months, jobs have expanded at an annual growth rate of just above 1 percent, a slowdown from the fairly consistent 3.5-percent annual growth rate experienced over the prior two-year period.
The 700-job decline in the construction industry marked the latest fluctuation in employment in that sector over the past few months, although the long-term trend of job growth is continuing, the agency said. Seasonally adjusted employment in the industry is up 10,200 jobs over this time a year ago, it said.
Manufacturing added 2,600 jobs in June, which was less than the seasonally expected gain of 3,500 for the month. After a rapid increase in jobs in 2005, manufacturing employment hasn't posted substantial gains this year, it said.
Still, Cooke said Oregon's economy remains relatively healthy, and that the June jobless rate of 5.4 percent is well below the year-ago rate of 6.3 percent.
"The economy is still strong," he said. "Payroll employment has grown in the past three years."
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