Tag SALEM ECONOMY
COLUMN: Some reasons for the labor shortage have been decades in the making
Men’s participation in the U.S. labor force has been on the decline for decades, while women have increasingly found work. (Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics) Salem’s economy is improving, there are lots of job openings and employers say they are having difficulty filling them.…
Two Salem businesses have yet to pay hefty fines for pandemic citations, pushing appeals
Courthouse Club Fitness in west Salem. (Saphara Harrell/Salem Reporter) Over the last year, two Salem businesses were assessed hefty fines by Oregon’s workplace safety agency for openly flouting regulations intended to protect workers from Covid. But neither business has paid any money, and it could…
Marion County among the highest in the state for back rent, new analysis shows
Patience and social distancing are two requirements for cashing in bottles and cans at Salem’s BottleDrop centers. Customers cash in at the center on Northeast Commercial Street on Friday, May 1. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) Marion County has the fifth-highest amount of past-due rent of any…
SALEM ECONOMIC INDEX: Salem sees housing market reach new highs and signs that hiring is picking up
A home is seen under construction on Vine Maple Drive Southeast above a row of completed homes on Thursday, April 8, 2021. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) The housing market in Salem and Keizer remains hot. Fewer people in the Salem area are receiving unemployment benefits, more…
Oregon’s economy expected to come roaring back from pandemic-induced recession
A ‘Now Hiring’ sign in front of the Boon’s Treasury McMenamin’s location on Monday, April 26. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) With “no real signs of permanent damage or economic scarring” from the pandemic, Oregonians’ incomes are expected to grow and the labor market is expected to…
Employment Department will bring back job-seeking requirements for laid-off Oregonians
Oregon Employment Department. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) In another sign the pandemic is waning, the Oregon Employment Department announced a shift in requirements for people receiving unemployment benefits: they’ll have to start actively looking for work. David Gerstenfeld, the department’s acting director, made the announcement on…
City adds grant money to help downtown Salem businesses with security
A security camera outside Salem Center mall in downtown. The camera was paid for with a grant from the city. (Jake Thomas/Salem Reporter) The city of Salem’s Urban Renewal Agency has added more money to a grant program that helps businesses pay for security upgrades…
Throughout the pandemic, the Latino Business Alliance in Salem kept its focus on connections
A pre-pandemic Café Y Pan Dulce, a monthly networking event hosted by the Latino Business Alliance that will resume in May 2021. (Courtesy/Latino Business Alliance) Jose Gonzalez recalled how during the Great Recession of 2008 he and a handful of other business people in Salem’s…
COLUMN: Do official numbers really reflect the Salem area’s economic recovery?
A graph showing employment changes in the Salem area through the last two recessions. (Source: Oregon Employment Department) The most recent Salem area employment report from the Oregon Employment Department provides a snapshot of a full year of the area’s pandemic economy, from March 2020…