Oregon jobless rate falls


Bolstered by the education and manufacturing sectors, the unemployment rate fell to 8.8 percent, its lowest since November 2008.

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Bolstered by the education and manufacturing sectors, the unemployment rate fell to 8.8 percent, its lowest since November 2008.

“There’s been a gradual improvement in the labor market, with unemployment trending down and payroll employment expanding,” Employment Department economist David Cooke said.

A comparision with January 2011, when the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 9.9 percent, shows that the drop in the jobless rate isn’t just the result of people leaving the work force. There were almost 2,000 more people in the work force this January than in January 2011. And employers have added 11,000 jobs compared with January 2011, according to state figures.

Read more at the Eugene Register-Guard.