Hi-ho, hi-ho!  It’s off to work we go.

There is more good news this week for employers and people hoping to find work in the Portland metropolitan region and in most counties in the state of Oregon.

Oregon’s jobless rate fell to 9.6 percent in April, when more than 1.6 million people were actively working. This marked the lowest unemployment levels in 30 months with half of Oregon’s 36 counties posting single-digit unemployment levels in the month of April.

The news is particularly encouraging on the Westside of the Portland metropolitan region, where the numbers of workers actively seeking employment last month was estimated at 7.8 percent.  Neighboring Multnomah County reported unemployment levels of 8.7 percent, Clackamas County 8.9 percent, Yamhill County 9.6 percent. 

To the north, workforce analysts reported jobless rates in Clark County, Washington have fallen sharply in recent months to an estimated 10.2 percent. But unlike the Oregon estimates, the latest figures from Washington’s Employment Security Department are not seasonally adjusted and will appear slightly higher by comparison.

Nearly all of the recent job growth in Oregon can be credited to the private sector job growth with employers in Washington County adding more than 3,900 jobs in the past 12 months; 2,200 more in Multnomah County; 300 in Clackamas; and 190 more in Yamhill County.  Most of this recent job growth has been concentrated in manufacturing (+2,490); professional and business services (+1,360) and educational and health services (+2,720) since April 2010.

Public sector employment in Clackamas, Washington and Yamhill Counties fell in all levels of government with more than 1,150 jobs lost in the past 12 months.  Multnomah County has lost nearly 900 jobs with the federal government and local education districts in the past year, but has added 500 state and local government workers.

Despite the encouraging trends of the past five months, an estimated 80,335 Oregonians were unable to find work in Clackamas, Multnomah, Washington and Yamhill Counties last month.  Statistically, the picture appears far worse in central Oregon, where Crook County (15.3 percent) and Harney County (13.9 percent) posted the highest unemployment figures in the state. But these figures represent fewer than 1,900 workers combined in the two sparsely populated counties.

To learn more, see Westside’s economic and demographic indicators.