A graph from the Oregon Employment Department shows the steep rise in unemployment following pandemic restrictions and how it has gradually tapered off. (Courtesy/Oregon Employment Department)
Following the rest of the state and country, the unemployment rate for the Salem area continued to decrease last month.
The unemployment rate for the Salem area was 6.8% in October, down from the revised rate of 7.8% in September. That follows the trajectory of Oregon and the rest of the country, which both saw their unemployment rates drop from 7.9% in September to 6.9% in October.
But the most recent drop is smaller than the decrease seen over the summer as pandemic restrictions were eased. Oregon’s unemployment rate was over 14% in April and May.
According to a press release from the Oregon Employment Department, the Salem area added 2,500 nonfarm jobs in October, much larger than the 1,000 jobs that would typically be expected. However, it noted that employment is still 7% below where it was in February before the state saw historic job losses over the spring because of the pandemic.
There were 700 more state and federal government jobs in the Salem area in October. Local government education employment added 800 in October.
Job gains were also widely shared among industries in the Salem area in October, according to the department. Professional and business services added 700 jobs, health care and social assistance employment added 200, retail trade also added 200 jobs. Manufacturing employment increased by 100. Leisure and hospitality, which has been particularly affected by the pandemic, added 200 jobs.
However, food manufacturing lost 300 jobs in October.
Oregon has steadily been adding back jobs over the last six months with 46% of positions restored since large portions of the economy were shut down in March and April.
But Oregon’s economy still has a difficult road ahead. Gov. Kate Brown enacted another partial shutdown of the state economy last week.
In the quarterly forecast also released last week, state economists said that the slow job growth expected over the colder, wetter months was now ensured because of the recent surge in Covid cases.
“Businesses and consumers are likely to pull back out of fear of the virus, and more restrictive public health policies are being implemented such that the health care system does not breach capacity,” the forecast said.
The forecast predicted that the economy will return to health by mid-2023, quicker than the five years it took for the recovery following the Great Recession of 2008. But the forecast said that the recovery is dependent on having a widely available medical treatment for Covid, such as a vaccine.
Contact reporter Jake Thomas at 503-575-1251 or [email protected] or @jakethomas2009.
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