Oregon's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 10.6 percent in November, essentially unchanged from 10.5 percent in October. The rate has been between 10.5 and 10.7 percent for the most recent 13 months. Oregon's unemployment rate was 10.7 percent in November 2009. The U.S. seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose from 9.6 percent in October to 9.8 percent in November.

In November, Oregon's seasonally adjusted nonfarm payroll employment rose by 6,300, following a revised gain of 6,700 in October.

 Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data)

Private-sector employment has added jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis in five of the past six months. Since its recent low point of 1,290,300 in March, private payroll employment has gained 17,700 jobs, or 1.4 percent. It accounted for nearly all of the seasonally adjusted job gains in November and over the past 12 months.

Over-the-year job gains continue to expand. Seasonally adjusted total nonfarm payroll employment was up 16,200 jobs or 1.0 percent since November 2009. Many of the service-providing sectors have added thousands of jobs and have grown by close to 2 percent during the past 12 months. Industries shedding jobs during that period include construction (-5,000 jobs) and financial activities (-1,200).

In November, construction shed 1,900 jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis. This job loss was more than offset by five of the major industries, which each added substantial employment on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Construction cut 3,900 jobs in November, when its typical job loss for the month would be 2,000. Each of the published components within construction reduced jobs for the month: construction of buildings (-1,000 jobs), heavy and civil engineering construction (-700), and specialty trade contractors (-2,200).

At the national level, both residential construction and commercial construction remain at very low levels of activity this far along in the recovery phase of the business cycle, when compared with prior upturns in overall economic activity. Oregon's construction employment numbers mirror this trend, as November's seasonally adjusted employment in construction, at 64,400, is now close to the bottom of the cycle, when comparable job counts numbered 64,000 in February.

Seasonal Expectations and Over-the-Month Employment Changes October 2010 to November 2010
INDUSTRY	Normal Seasonal Movement	Unadjusted Change	Seasonally Adjusted Change
Total nonfarm payroll employment	-1,400	4,900	6,300
Total private	-4,700	1,200	5,900
Mining and logging	-200	-300	-100
Construction	-2,000	-3,900	-1,900
Manufacturing	-1,500	0	1,500
Trade, transportation, and utilities	3,900	7,300	3,400
Information	0	200	200
Financial activities	-400	300	700
Professional and business services	-2,200	-2,000	200
Educational and health services	-200	900	1,100
Leisure and hospitality	-1,800	-800	1,000
Other services	-300	-500	-200
Government	3,300	3,700	400

 

Trade, transportation, and utilities shot upward in November, adding 7,300 jobs during a month where a seasonal gain of 3,900 is the norm. Wholesale trade added 1,100 jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis, bouncing back from a decline of the same magnitude in October. Wholesale is up 2,300 jobs in the past 12 months, and has therefore recovered nearly a third of its job losses from the peak of over 81,000 jobs nearly three years ago.

Retail trade has reached its highest level in nearly two years. Employment grew by 3,600 jobs, which was well above the typical seasonal gain for the month of 1,300. Clothing and accessories stores added 1,400 jobs, to employ a total of 16,100 in November. General merchandise stores added 1,900 to reach a total of 39,700; this industry is 300 above its year-ago figure. Nonstore retailers surged 1,000 jobs to reach 8,800 in total, reflecting strengthening demand at certain mail-order retailers.

Manufacturing showed no overall change in total employment, when a loss of 1,500 is the normal seasonal pattern. This put the industry back where it has been for much of the year, close to 162,000 jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis. Computer and electronic product manufacturing added 400 jobs in November, but is still down 500 since November 2009. Within nondurable goods, food manufacturing was essentially flat in November, but down by 800 over the year.

Government added 3,700 jobs in November, which was 400 above normal seasonal expectations. The mid-term elections and governor's race boosted county government job counts temporarily as several counties added part-time workers to handle the additional election work.

Educational and health services added 900 jobs in November, when a loss of 200 is the normal seasonal movement. Health care and social assistance added 300 jobs and is up 1,600 since November 2009. This industry has been growing modestly again over the past several months, after an unusually weak trend for the industry earlier in the year. Since November 2009, the component industry adding the most jobs has been nursing and residential care facilities, which is up 1,500 in that time.

Leisure and hospitality cut only 800 jobs in November, when a loss of 1,800 is the typical drop for the last full month of autumn. While seasonally adjusted job gains haven't been in a straight line, over the course of this year, the industry has been trending upward. Employing 163,900 in November, leisure and hospitality is up 3,800 jobs or 2.4 percent.

Hours and Earnings

(Establishment Survey Data)

The average workweek for Oregon's manufacturing production workers was 40.0 hours in November, which was down slightly from the upwardly revised figure of 40.3 in October.

Reflecting reduced construction employment in November, the average weekly hours of Oregon's payroll workers in the construction industry dropped to 34.5 hours. This was the lowest November reading within the past four years, and approached the low of just more than 34 hours per week reached in early 2008 and again in early 2010.

Meanwhile, average earnings of all employees in Oregon edged down to $21.54 per hour in November from $21.56 in October. This measure of earnings has shown no clear trend so far this year, although substantial increases occurred in each of the past three years: November 2009 ($21.39), November 2008 ($21.17), and November 2007 ($20.48).

Unemployment

(Household Survey Data)

In November, Oregon's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 10.6 percent, essentially unchanged from 10.5 percent in October. The rate was 10.7 percent in November 2009.

The month marked the first time ever that Oregon's civilian labor force surpassed two million people. The exact figure was 2,001,060 in November, which was up from 1,984,209 in October. It is likely that population growth in the state has been one of the primary drivers of recent growth in Oregon's labor force. Economic expansion, following the depths of the recession in mid-2009, is also a likely contributor.

In November, 209,601 Oregonians were unemployed.

Next Press Releases

The Oregon Employment Department plans to release the November county and metropolitan area unemployment rates on Monday, December 20^th and the statewide unemployment rate and employment survey data for December on Wednesday, January 19^th.