Kelly O’Bonnon, who is four months pregnant, is among those out of work amid the pandemic. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
The state confirmed on Wednesday what tens of thousands of Salem area residents already knew when it released unemployment figures for counties and metro areas.
Unemployment for the Salem area increased to 13.3% in April, a sizable jump from last month’s 4.1%.
The numbers released by the state Employment Department are the latest measure of the economic damage of the COVID-19 pandemic. The unemployment rate for the Salem area (which includes both Marion and Polk counties) follows the sharp rise in unemployment at the state and national levels.
Oregon’s unemployment rate for April was 14.8%. Nationally, that number is 14.7%.
Jon Thompson, an assistant professor of economics at Willamette University, said that because Oregon has a large industrial sector, its unemployment rate is usually higher during a recession because there is less demand for durable goods.
“We haven’t quite seen that this time because this is an unusual recession,” he said.
Thompson pointed out that the demand for goods has stayed relatively steady. However, services, including medical, food and lodging, were disrupted to prevent the virus from spreading.
While experiencing a dizzying increase, Salem fared relatively well compared to other parts of the state. Thompson said that’s in part because of the large number of state government jobs in the Salem area.
According to the Employment Department, the number of state government jobs in the area dipped from 20,500 in March to 19,900 in April, a relatively small decrease compared to other parts of the economy.
The pandemic has decimated the state’s leisure and hospitality industries, which is reflected in numbers for tourism-dependent counties on the coast. Lincoln County had the highest unemployment rate at 26.2%, followed by Clatsop County at 24.4%. The Bend area, also dependent on tourism, saw its rate rise to 18.2%
Salem’s leisure and hospitality industry was also hit the hardest of business sectors, losing 6,700 positions — half of all local jobs in one month. Professional and business services in the area lost 2,900 jobs, a 15% loss. Health care and social assistance shed 2,900 jobs, nearly an 11% cut.
According to the state agency, the Salem area was expected to see an increase of nonfarm 600 jobs. But instead, the number of nonfarm jobs decreased from 172,200 in March to 148,900 in April, a loss of 23,300 jobs.
Patrick O’Connor, Employment Department regional economist, said that economic trends in the mid-Willamette Valley tend to mirror the rest of the state because of its mix of agricultural, industrial and urban settings.
He pointed out that even professional and business service jobs, which are insulated from the pandemic because they can be done remotely, shed 2,400 jobs in Salem. He pointed out that construction lost over a thousand jobs and manufacturing surprisingly lost nearly 2,000.
“It’s hard to find an industry we couldn’t say something about,” he said.
O’Connor said that the numbers are unprecedented. The last time the Salem area saw a double-digit unemployment rate was in 2009 when it rose about 11%.
For every job lost, there’s a person who lost an income.
After retiring from her secretarial job at Salem Health three years ago, Pat Cozad, 73, has driven for Uber in her Toyota Highlander and taken temporary work with her former employer. She said the extra money the jobs bring in helps stretch out her and her 75-year-old husband’s monthly Social Security checks.
When the pandemic hit, she stopped driving Uber out of concerns she would bring the virus home to her medically fragile husband and the hospital no longer needed her as a temp.
In response to the pandemic, unemployment benefits have been expanded to “gig” economy workers, such as Uber drivers. In March, Cozad applied for unemployment benefits and began waiting for the Employment Department to work through the record high backlog of claims.
She had just $82 left on her debit card before the couple received their $2,400 federal stimulus payment in April. Cozad said she put the money in the bank and rationed it out at $300 a week while waiting for her unemployment benefits to start.
“It was scary until that stimulus check came because we needed extra money,” she said.
Two weeks ago, Cozad finally got through to a representative at the Employment Department who corrected an error on her application. Three days later, she received 11 checks covering past unemployment benefits and additional payments made available for unemployed workers under the federal relief package.
Kelly O’Bonnon’s life has also been in flux.
When the pandemic hit, she was temporarily laid off from her retail job at Once Upon A Child, which sells used toys and clothes. She returned to work earlier this month. But O’Bonnon, 30, said she’s again been out of work since last week after becoming sick.
State rules allow workers who show flu-like symptoms to collect unemployment benefits while under self-quarantine. While staying home, O’Bonnon said she again filed for unemployment but is unsure if she needs to file a new claim or if she qualifies.
She’s five months pregnant and just moved into a bigger house with her husband where the rent is more expensive. Her husband is also out of work installing floors and hasn’t had luck in his job search, she said.
“It’s been up and down,” she said.
Marion County last week entered the first phase of the state plan to gradually reopen the economy. While O’Bonnon is encouraged the economy is reopening she said if her unemployment benefits don’t come she’ll start selling dressers, old kids’ clothes and other items after carefully cleaning them.
The same day the numbers were released, officials from the Employment Department appeared before a legislative committee to publicly explain the delay in processing a record backlog of claims. The department has hired more employees who have been working additional hours to process the claims.
During the hearing, Kay Erickson, the department’s director, acknowledged that her agency was unprepared after historically low unemployment rates. She had a message for the thousands of Oregonians who are still waiting for their benefits: “I apologize.”
Contact reporter Jake Thomas at 503-575-1251 or [email protected] or @jakethomas2009.
