Pamela Ferrara - Special to the Salem Reporter
Pamela Ferrara is a part-time research associate with the Willamette Workforce Partnership, the area’s local workforce board. Ferrara has worked in research at the Oregon Employment Department, earned a Master’s in Labor Economics, and speaks fluent Spanish.
COLUMN: Salem sees better pandemic jobs recovery than other Oregon cities
Salem's heavy employment in state government meant fewer lost jobs in 2020 - but hospitality and health care jobs still haven't recovered to pre-pandemic levels, columnist Pamela Ferrara writes.
COLUMN: Workers with disabilities a ready pool for Salem employers
While the labor market is tight in Salem and elsewhere, one class of workers is underemployed. A look at how workers with disabilities are far underrepresented in today's labor market.
COLUMN: ‘Quit rates’ climb in low-paying jobs as economy recovers in Salem
THE ECONOMY: A tight labor market has opened the way for those in low-paying jobs to get new positions with better pay. About one in three Salem area workers have seen pay raises in the past year.
COLUMN: Making sense of Salem’s strange economic climate
Pamela Ferrara of the Willamette Workforce Partnership explains why state economists are predicting a recession despite strong economic indicators.
COLUMN: Employers will likely struggle to fill high-demand jobs in Salem area
Mid-Valley employers will be hiring for about 350,000 jobs by 2030, but many are lower-wage, highly stressful jobs, or require training that's in short supply.
COLUMN: Tracking the decline of child care options in Salem
Columnist Pamela Ferrara dives into local data on the availability of child care, and explores why the U.S. hasn't made public funding for care a priority.
COLUMN: What’s happening on inflation, recession in Salem
Columnist Pamela Ferrara examines the latest local economic data to explain where Salem stands as prices continue to be high while employment has nearly fully recovered from Covid.
COLUMN: American women still doing the bulk of household work, latest Census finds
Columnist Pamela Ferrara dives into the relatively low labor force participation of U.S. women compared to women in other industrialized countries.
COLUMN: The pandemic shut-down hit low-wage workers and minorities the hardest
A graph showing the percent change in the Salem area’s private sector employment from Februay 2020. (Source: Oregon Employment Department) The pandemic-related shutdown of the economy will go into the record books with a lot of “firsts” and we’ve just…
COLUMN: Unemployment rate dips slightly, but low-wage workers continue to be hardest hit
A graph showing the percentage of total U.S. employment in goods producing and service producing industries from 1950 to 2018. (Courtesy/ Oregon Employment Department) The good news for Salem’s economy is that the unemployment rate has come down from 13.2…