Payroll employment reached pre-recession numbers at 1,740,800 jobs.
Payroll employment reached pre-recession numbers at 1,740,800 jobs.
November also recorded the largest one-month gain in employment since the state began keeping comparable records in 1990, the Employment Department said. In a month when the state would normally be expected to lose 4,000 jobs, it instead gained 7,200, the agency said. That means that, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the state ended up with about 11,200 more jobs than would normally be expected in November, because both new jobs were added and fewer jobs were lost, the state said.
Department economists added a note of caution, however, in announcing the record numbers for November: Preliminary monthly employment figures often are adjusted as more data become available.
Read more at the Register Guard.
In response to the jobs studies, a Portland Business Alliance news release put the numbers into a localized context, arguing that while employment opportunities are back, wages are still behind.
The release stated:
This year’s report also shines a light on job growth relative to population growth, revealing that Portland-metro’s employment per capita has been on a decline for more than a decade.
“This report shows that jobs are back, and that is great news,” said Sandra McDonough, president & CEO of the Portland Business Alliance. “However, lagging wages continue to impact families. And, in an income-tax-dependent state like Oregon, lower incomes means less revenue for important public services like education. We need to make sure we keep a focus on growing and retaining quality jobs that can support families, especially those critically important middle-income jobs.”
Read the release in its entirety here.
Also, read Oregon Business’ report on the disparity in pay between CEOs and their workers here.
