Portland-area unemployment fell to 8.6% in December, the lowest level in three years.
Portland-area unemployment fell to 8.6% in December, the lowest level in three years.
Over the year, metro-area employers added 14,200 jobs for a gain of 1.5 percent. That increase exceeds 1.1 percent job growth for Oregon as a whole. Many rural counties remain mired in double-digit unemployment.
Amy Vander Vliet, an Oregon Employment Department economist in Portland, said the numbers released Wednesday were encouraging, but not enough to portend job growth of 2,000 to 3,000 a month from here on out.
“I still don’t feel we have a firm foundation or enough momentum to look forward and think we’re going to see consistent job growth,” Vander Vliet said. “I still think it’s going to be uncertain and erratic” as Europe’s financial crisis plays out and as growth slows in Asian markets.
Read more at OregonLive.com.
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