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| Oregon's December 2004 Unemployment Rate | ||
| 01/13/2005 | ||
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Oregon Employment Situation: December 2004 David Cooke Economist Oregon Employment Department (503) 947-1272 David.C.Cooke@state.or.us Oregon’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate edged down to 6.8 percent in December, from the revised November figure of 7.2 percent. The rate is now near the same level as in the spring, when it ranged between 6.7 and 6.9 percent during April through July. Seasonally adjusted payroll employment rose 1,700 in December, after a loss of 400 in November. Most major industry groups performed close to their normal trends for the time of year. Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data) Trade, transportation, and utilities gained 2,600 jobs, which was 800 above the normal December trend. Holiday hiring over the last three months of 2004 turned out to be a little better than in the prior year. These retailers added 8,600 jobs between September and December, which was more than the gain of 6,900 jobs in 2003, but still below the gains typical throughout the holiday periods of the prior 10 years. Manufacturing performed better than normal in December, shedding only 1,100 jobs when a loss of 1,600 would be the norm for the last month of the year. Few of the manufacturing industries posted large employment changes for the month; the exception was plywood and engineered wood product manufacturing, which cut 400 for the month and employed 10,500 in December. After accounting for normal seasonal trends, manufacturing employment gradually has trended upward over the past five months. Construction cut 1,700 jobs in December, which was close to the normal drop of 2,100 in December. Construction employment has been closely following normal seasonal trends over the past 10 months. Professional and business services showed a one-month bounce, gaining 1,400 jobs in December after losing 2,500 in November. The often volatile industry, employment services, was partially responsible, as it rose by 400 jobs in December after a drop of 2,300 in November. Leisure and hospitality performed the worst of the major industries in December as it cut 1,900 jobs when a loss of only 300 would be the normal seasonal trend. The light snow in November and December meant that many ski and snowboard resorts didn’t ramp up their annual hiring as much as they might have. Also, food services and drinking places, which makes up nearly three quarters of leisure and hospitality employment, expanded during 2004 at only a modest rate of near one percent. These restaurants and bars cut employment by 900 in December. Government cut 3,500 jobs, when a drop of 2,600 would be normal for December. Local government accounted for most of this drop, shedding 2,800 for the month. Federal government employment was only up 200 in December, as the U.S. Postal Service hired fewer workers than normal for the busy holiday season. Unemployment (Household Survey Data) Oregon’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate edged down from the revised November figure of 7.2 percent to 6.8 percent in December. In December 2003, Oregon’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 7.6 percent. In December, 121,178 Oregonians were unemployed, compared with 125,692 in November. The number of unemployed Oregonians decreased over the past year; 135,302 were unemployed in December 2003. The national unemployment rate was unchanged over the month, at 5.4 percent in both December and November. The Oregon Employment Department will release statewide unemployment rate and employment survey data for January 2005 at 11 a.m. on Monday, February 28, 2005. — end —
For the complete version of the news release, including this text, tables and graphs, visit www.QualityInfo.org/pressrelease. For help finding jobs and training resources, visit one of the state's WorkSource Oregon Centers or go to: www.WorkSourceOregon.org. Equal Opportunity program - auxiliary aids and services available upon request to individuals with disabilities. |
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