Oregon’s Unemployment Rate Drops Slightly In May

PORTLAND, Ore. – After a record 14.9% unemployment rate in April, Oregon’s unemployment rate dropped to 14.2% in May.

The Oregon Employment Department’s Anna Johnson says over the past three months, job losses have reached 243,500, “Historically, this loss is unprecedented and currently thousands of Oregonians are still suffering the economic realities of being unemployed.”

The U.S. unemployment rate dropped to 13.3 percent in May from 14.7 percent in April.

Oregon’s April unemployment rate is the state’s highest since comparable records began in 1976.

Over-the-month job gains in May were largest in leisure and hospitality (+15,900 jobs); health care and social assistance (+8,400); construction (+5,600); and retail trade (+3,200).

However, these gains were countered by substantial monthly losses in manufacturing (-4,900 jobs) and government (-9,900).