Thousands of Jobs Lost in Oregon for September

On Tuesday, the Oregon Employment Department released data about the month of September for jobs, which saw thousands get shed. The job shed in September broke a streak of six consecutive months of growth for jobs. The report said that almost every industry in the state cut back on hiring during the month of September.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said that 150,300 residents of Oregon were out of work in September. In September, the state’s unemployment rate dropped to 8.7 percent, after hitting 8.9 percent in August. This was the first time since the month of May that the jobless rate decreased. The drop in the rate came because the labor market shrunk. The report said that the number of discouraged workers stayed steady at 5,000.

Despite the dip in the unemployment rate, the report said that the state’s economy lost 7,900 seasonally adjusted jobs in September. But, Nick Beleiciks, a state employment economist, told The Oregonian that the losses probably are not that steep. The numbers from each month are edited. For instance, the estimated jobs gains for August was changed from 3,600 to 1,500.

Beleiciks said that if the numbers stay put for September, it would mark the worst month since the beginning of 2009 “when the unemployment rate was skyrocketing.” Since that time, the unemployment rate for Oregon has dropped 3 percentage points.

The unemployment rate for Oregon, which sits at 8.7 percent, does not tell the entire story for the state’s jobless residents. It does not take into account the people who have ended their search for a job. It also does not take into account part-time employees who cannot find full-time employment. The unemployment rate for Oregon would hit 16.9 percent in the month of September if all of those factors are added into the rate.

In September, the professional and business services sector got rid of 2,600 jobs. The normal loss of jobs would have been 200. In that count of job cuts, there were 1,800 jobs cut from employment services companies. The employment services industry also includes temp agencies and it typically is a harbinger of future hiring. The construction industry lost 1,400 jobs, which is well off the normal addition of 200 jobs. There was a seasonally adjusted loss of 2,400 jobs in government across the state.

There were 300 hired in the financial services industry, which continues a rebound for that industry. Beleicks said that the retail industry also showed a gain, more than likely because the seasonal hiring time started earlier than expected this year.