Job cuts in Oregon government, primarily at school districts, have helped keep the state’s unemployment rate high. Oregon’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 9.6 percent in August, up slightly from 9.5 percent in July.
Oregon’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 9.6 percent in August, up slightly from 9.5 percent in July, state employment officials said this week. Meanwhile, seasonally adjusted payroll employment rose by 800 jobs after a revised loss of 3,300 jobs in July.
The downward revisions in July’s preliminary estimate were concentrated in government. Part of the reason for the large changes in the preliminary estimates had to do with the availability of data. But the local government education sector also made sizeable job cuts.
Employment at Oregon public schools, in kindergarten through grade 12, was 74,800 jobs in August. That’s 5,500 jobs, or 6.8 percent, below August 2010.
Read more in today’s Statesman Journal.
