State of Oregon Jobs Increase Over the Month

Although the unemployment rate increased, more State of Oregon jobs were added on a monthly basis at the end of last year.

During December 2009, Oregon's unemployment rate increased from 10.7 percent to 11 percent, following a decrease from 11.2 percent during November. That increase keeps the state's unemployment rate higher than the national rate of 10 percent.

Oregon had a total non-farm employment of 1,617,200 workers during December, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is up from 1,614,300 workers during November, but a 4.3 percent decrease from December 2008.

Five industries managed to see a monthly increase in employment, including: manufacturing by 1,800 jobs; trade, transportation and utilities by 1,400 jobs; information by 200 jobs; professional and business services by 400 jobs; and education and health services by 2,900 jobs.

The education and health services industry was the only one that saw a yearly increase in employment. The industry employed 228,400 workers during December, up from 225,500 workers during November and a 2.1 percent increase from the previous year.

The mining and logging industry took the biggest hit when compared to the previous year. The industry employed 6,700 workers during December, down from 7,400 workers during November and a 21.2 percent decrease from December 2008.

Other industries that saw an over-the-year decrease in employment include:
construction by 14.7 percent
manufacturing by 11.6 percent
trade, transportation and utilities by 3.1 percent
information by .8 percent
financial activities by 5.7 percent
professional and business services by 4.8 percent
leisure and hospitality by 5.7 percent
other services by 5.3 percent
government by .9 percent