By Kale Donnelly, Workforce Analyst, State of Oregon Employment Department

“We’re still chugging along on our economic recovery — Unemployment rates continue to decline, and most industries continue to add jobs. Still, all counties’ employment levels are down from this time last year. However, our quarterly revisions of previous months’ data have shifted the regional narrative. The employment situation from earlier in the spring saw significant revisions after payroll records through June rolled in, providing a clearer picture of the initial COVID-19 shock and early recovery. These revisions revealed that job losses were not nearly as significant as initially estimated for both Crook and Jefferson counties; however, the losses in Deschutes County were larger than those early estimates.

In each set of indicators I like to include what I call the  Graph of the Month — a chart containing data that I find particularly interesting, informative, or the topic was inspired by a recent data request of mine. This edition’s GOTM is:

Central Oregon’s Projected Employment Growth is the Highest in the State

With the latest industry and occupational projections available for 2019-2029, we see that Central Oregon is yet again the region projected to grow at the fastest rate in the state. With a projected 12 percent increase in jobs in the region, Central Oregon tops the list with the Portland Tri-County area as a close second.

This rate of projected growth is slower than the region’s growth over the previous decade (+36%), but is still strong considering the job deficit caused by the initial impacts of COVID-19. Also worth noting, the initial impacts from COVID-19 and subsequent job losses are incorporated into these projections.”