Westside unemployment rate continues to fall

The unemployment rates in Oregon’s three largest counties continued to fall slightly in November, dropping back to the lowest levels since February.

Data released from WorkSource Oregon confirms that seasonally-adjusted unemployment figures in Washington County are at 9.2 percent, nearly two percentage points lower than the statewide average of 11.1 percent, and it’s lower than neighboring Clackamas County at 10.3 percent and Multnomah County at 10.5 percent.

The three urban counties continue to fare better than nearby Columbia County, where unemployment is at 12.7 percent or Yamhill County at 10.6 percent or Clark County, Washington at 13.2 percent.  The highest unemployment rates in November continue to be in Crook (17.4 percent) and Harney County (16.8 percent).  Gilliam County in north-central Oregon posted the lowest unemployment levels in the state at 6.5 percent, but there are only 955 jobs available in the sparsely-populated county 100 miles east of Portland.
While these latest unemployment figures signal welcome news for our state’s struggling economy, unemployment levels in Oregon are expected to remain high well into 2010

Employment in the Portland metropolitan region has endured the loss of 53,400 jobs in the past 12 months, including 29,000 leaving Multnomah County, 15,200 more from Washington County, and 9,200 from Clackamas County.  The employment sectors hardest hit in our tri-county region during the past year have been trade and transportation ( - 10,000); professional and business service jobs ( -9,700); construction (-8,700); and manufacturing (-7,800) employment.  Public sector employment contracted by nearly 3 percent, with 2,700 government jobs lost from Multnomah County and 300 each in Clackamas and Washington counties.

The latest information on economic and demographic trends on the Westside of the metropolitan region

Washington County economic indicators from WorkSource Oregon