Unemployment in Oregon

For the first time in several months, the unemployment rate in Oregon dropped and is now at 9.1 percent. Most people would consider this an accomplishment has decreasing the unemployment rate anywhere is a good sign. However, it is actually believe that the reason the unemployment rate has decreased for the first time in months is because people have grown tired of searching for employment and have simply given up, according to Oregon Live.

In November and several months prior, the jobless rate in Oregon was at around 9.5 percent. Just last month, more than a thousand jobs were lost, leaving thousands of employees unemployed once again. In October alone, more than five hundred jobs were lost. Economists believe that the decrease in unemployed citizens of Oregon is not a good sign and is actually a very negative sign.

An economist in Oregon, Patrick Emerson, has said, “The unemployment rate going down, in this case, is actually a bad sign.” He also says, “It’s very similar to the picture nationally, which is that the unemployment rate is dropping, but it’s largely due to people leaving the market rather than new jobs appearing in the market.”

While Emerson and several other economists find the decrease in unemployment an actual negative thing instead of a positive thing, there are some economists who believe that the decrease in the rate of unemployed citizens in Oregon is actually a good sign of good things to come and of course, more employment opportunities. In fact, there are many jobs in Oregon that are still being created which will enable job seekers to find the employment that they have been looking so long to for.

While different economists have different opinions on the decline in Oregon, they all seem to agree on one thing. What they do happen to agree on is, that while the economy is slowly getting out of a recession, progress is being made very slowly as the unemployment rate decreases by a small percentage every few months which proves that there is still a long way to go for the economy in areas such as Oregon and all over the United States.

An economist for the University of Oregon, Tim Duy, has spoken about the economy in Oregon and says, “I’d like to see much stronger numbers across the board, particularly with respect to job growth.”

Duy even believes that the United States is still at risk for dealing with another recession-like crisis due to the types of situations that are occurring in areas all around the world such as the crisis in Europe and the increasing price of oil.

Oregon, while at a percentage of 9.1 for unemployed citizens, has possibly made some progress but the unemployment percentage is still higher than the average for the nation which is 8.6 percent.