Oregon Employment Recovery Among Worst In Nation

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Joanna Evoniuk, GoLocalPDX Contributor

Photo Credit: flazingo_photos via Compfight cc

Oregon lags behinds most of the nation in getting people back to work after the Great Recession, according to new a new report.

The amount of Oregonians moving back into the working world, post-recession, is among the lowest in the country according to study by the Pew Charitable Trust. Their recent report states that the percentage of employed people aged 25-54 in Oregon is still 4.5 percent lower of what it was at its post recession level in 2007, meaning there was a higher percentage of people in that age group employed 7 years ago than there were in 2014.

Pew Charitable Trusts came up with the measurement by analyzing data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau, comparing pre-recession numbers to those in 2014.

Oregon’s employment recovery had a lot of ground to cover after the recession hit, according to Nick Beleikis, an economist with the Oregon Employment Department.

“Oregon lost a higher percentage of jobs compared to nationwide,” Beleikis said. “It took us longer to pick up speed.”

Oregon hit hard
Oregon lost 8.5 percent of its jobs between peak employment levels in December 2007 and the low point of the recession in February 2010. However, by the end of 2014, job recovery had reached pre-recession levels.

Unemployment in Oregon showed improvement early, but leveled off over 2014. In December, Oregon's unemployment rate was at seven percent, just below the historical average.

Pew researchers said employment rates are a better index of the job market than unemployment rates. Unemployment rates are frequently used to evaluate economic recovery, but can give an incomplete picture because they do not count people who are not actively looking for work.

Beleickis said Oregon’s lagging employment-to-population ratio could be related to an increase in population in the state. In 2013 alone, Oregon gained 23,280 residents.

Recession not over
Although the state is bouncing back in some regions, the recession’s effects are still felt in multiple areas around Oregon, said Rodger Lee, executive director of Economic Development for Central Oregon.

“In some cases, jobs were lost that are never going to return,” Lee said. “We had people not working, not contributing to the tax base while not working.”

In the wood manufacturing industry, for example, Lee said many companies replaced jobs with machines to make up for layoffs. Post recession, these jobs have not been added back.

Recovery has taken on different forms in regions throughout the state. Beleickis said Portland has been carrying Oregon’s economic recovery, while rural economies are struggling to catch up. However, Central Oregon and the Columbia George Basin show strong signs of improvement.

“We are coming backing in different sectors,” Lee said. “Oregon has bounced back and made up in significant fashion.”

Related Slideshow: Top 10 Cities For Job Growth

Job growth in Portland is up 2.9 percent, making it the 5th top U.S. for job growth, according to a study by Forbes. See which other cities mat the list.