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Oregon again sees little movement on unemployment rate

Oregon Employment Department. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)

Oregon’s unemployment rate remained stuck at 5.9% in May, according to numbers released by the state Employment Department Tuesday. 

The state’s unemployment rate was the same in April and has hovered around 6% since a spike in Covid cases during the winter. Oregon’s unemployment rate has largely followed the rest of the country. The national unemployment rate dipped to 5.8% in May from 6.1% in April. 

In May, Oregon added 6,900 jobs following monthly gains averaging 11,400 in the last four months, according to the department. The largest gains were in private education (3,400 jobs), professional and business services (2,900 jobs), construction (900 jobs) and financial activities (900 jobs). 

The state’s leisure and hospitality sector, which has lost more jobs than any other industry during the pandemic, is slowly recovering. According to the department, the industry is still 46,700 jobs below from where it was in February 2020. For the last three months, jobs specifically classified as accommodation and food service have had flat hiring trends over the last three months. 

-Jake Thomas