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2020 Oregon Wage Data
by Jason Payton, Occupational EconomistOregon Employment Department How do we know the worth of our work? How do we know we are paying employees a competitive wage? The only way to know is to get a snapshot of what other workers are getting paid for doing similar work. If you don’t…
Read MoreLane County Lost More Jobs than the State in Recent Recessions
by Henry Fields, Workforce Analyst, for Employment in Oregon During the Great Recession, employment dropped more and took longer to recover in Lane County than in the state as a whole. Part of that had to do with the importance to our local economy of certain sectors that were particularly vulnerable, such as manufacturing…
Read MoreWorking from Home and Broadband Access in Oregon
By Josh Lehner, Oregon Office of Economic AnalysisThere is considerable speculation about how the pandemic will change the way we live. In particular our office is fielding a lot of questions about working from home and whether households may increasingly choose to live in the suburbs or rural areas as…
Read MoreCharacteristics of the Covered Unemployed in May 2020 in Jackson and Josephine Counties
by Polly Farrimond, Workforce Analyst, for Employment in Oregon In May 2020, Jackson County’s unemployment rate was 14.4 percent, up 9.8 percentage points from last year. Josephine County’s unemployment rate was 13.9 percent, up 8.7 percentage points over last year. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted residents at record levels reflecting the recession that has…
Read MoreCharacteristics of the Covered Unemployed in May 2020
by Anna Johnson, Senior Economic Analyst, for Employment in Oregon Since public health measures began to combat the rapid spread of COVID-19 virus, Oregon has seen an unprecedented and devastating impact on the economy. Along with the monthly employment and unemployment numbers, there is data available every month on the demographic composition of Unemployment…
Read MoreFederal Reserve Themes In The Second Half of 2020
The pandemic will continue to weigh on the economy but ongoing fiscal support matched by Fed easing will help ease the pain and support markets. By Tim Duy, Senior Director, Oregon Economic Forum, Professor of PracticeDepartment of Economics, University of Oregonduy@uoregon.edu Bloomberg Opinion My Bloomberg column last week: For the…
Read MoreWhen workers can live anywhere
By Joe Cortright Another anecdote-fueled tale predicting of urban decline Writing in The Wall Street Journal, Rachel Feintzeig and Ben Eisen add another story, this one headlined “When workers can live anywhere” to the growing pile of claims that fear of Covid-19 and the possibility for remote work are likely to lead…
Read MoreBusiness Oregon Announces Third Round of Grants to Serve Small Businesses, Along With Millions in New Funding
By Nathan Buehler Business Oregon Business Oregon announced the recipients of $5.5 million in grant funding through its Emergency Business Assistance Grant Fund, created by Governor Kate Brown and the Oregon Legislature to assist small businesses impacted by COVID-19. To date, the Fund was disbursed through three rounds of Requests…
Read MoreA Few Words from Jim
Wow, I’m excited for you to check out this month’s issue. It’s huge! It’s like a double issue. The theme is Employment and Unemployment During COVID. There is also a special section on People’s Bank inside. Full Disclosure – I Proudly Serve on the People’s Bank Board. I wanted…
Read MoreDepartment Cautions Against Further Groundwater Development in the Harney Basin as Data Indicate Groundwater is Being Depleted
The Oregon Water Resources Department is advising permit holders in the Harney Basin against increasing their groundwater use, even if they have a water right permit that allows for additional pumping to increase the amount of land being irrigated. Preliminary results from the Harney Basin Groundwater Study show that groundwater…
Read MoreA Few Words from Jim
It is officially summer (Although on the day I’m writing this it’s only 65 degrees and I’m wearing a hoodie – Welcome to Oregon) and it has been 1 year since I became a partner with Greg on the Southern Oregon Business Journal. A lot has happened in that year.…
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