BlueOregon (Free subscription) | 11/13/2009
We didn’t need the Pew Center on the States to tell us this, but they did it anyway: Oregon is facing a severe financial crisis. Based on several factors, the Pew Center has listed Oregon as one of the ten states in most “fiscal peril,” tied with Nevada for #5. California’s fiscal state is so bad, it’s in a league of its own. The report takes into account Oregon’s...
Blog Town, PDX (Free subscription) | 10/30/2009
The Urban League of Portland asked that question during its very interesting presentation to City Club today on the State of Black Oregon report (pdf) it released over the summer. Matt and I wrote about the report in July, but even though I'd heard the info before, the experts' presentation to the City Club was chilling. Urban League President Marcus Mundy addresses the swank City Club Urban League...
Jack Bog's Blog (Free subscription) | 10/28/2009
Here's another lost job in Salem....
BlueOregon (Free subscription) | 10/14/2009
By Carlos Jermaine Richard of Portland, Oregon. Although we are facing a dire economic crisis, increasing unemployment rates, affordable housing issues, educational & literacy achievement gaps, and affordable health care, Oregon continues to be a national leader and pioneer on many fronts. The nation looks to Oregon for leadership in assisting children and families, the formation of the Oregon...
LAist (Free subscription) | 08/21/2009
Ouch. No wonder it's tough to find a job in Los Angeles . July's unemployment numbers for the state are not looking too good. 11.9% is, once again, a record high, according to the LA Times . A few months back in may it was a record breaking 11.5% and then 11.6% in June. California lost 35,800 jobs last month (and 760,000 over the last year), which is more than any other state. That ties us with Oregon...
Jack Bog's Blog (Free subscription) | 07/27/2009
The national unemployment rate has risen to 9.5 percent, the highest level in more than a quarter-century. Yet it still excludes all those who have given up looking for a job and those part-time workers who want to be working...
The Politics Blog (Free subscription) | 07/05/2009
By Ron Knowles I was having coffee and donuts with neighbors this morning as we do every Friday when the fast-paced conversation suddenly jackknifed in the middle of the table just like a big rig would, causing a verbal pile up about the unemployment situation in Oregon. Presently we're at a little over twelve percent with rural counties running higher than that. Oregon! One of the first to get hit...
The Oregon Economics Blog (Free subscription) | 07/02/2009
Though a lagging indicator the fact that the US unemployment rate has risen to 9.5% on the the wave of another 467,000 job losses is a pretty dismal showing for an economy everyone thought was starting to bottom out. It still may, be but the number of job losses is still very severe - quite a bit higher than most economists were hoping for. This graphic from the NY Times does a nice job showing the...
BlueOregon (Free subscription) | 05/18/2009
The unemployment figures came out today, and Oregon is holding steady at 12%. The bad news is still legion: the state lost 9500 jobs; unemployment has more than doubled since this time last year; Oregon's still far higher than the national average of 8.9%. And state officials are still not heaving sighs of relief: "It's slower than it was at the beginning of the year," said Chris Greaves,...
BlueOregon (Free subscription) | 05/14/2009
Interested in viewing how ugly Oregon's unemployment situation is? Want to compare our ugliness to the rest of the country (including county by county)? Go here. Oh yes, I do love a cool widget! If there's to be a battle royale over why we're in this mess--please keep it on topic. Consider this fair warning for off-topic deletions.
NW Republican (Free subscription) | 04/21/2009
DEMOCRATS TERMINATE JOB CREATION BILLS FOR 2009 SESSION As Key Committee Deadline Passes, Job Creation Bills Left Off the Table SALEM—With Oregon’s unemployment rate skyrocketing past 12...
CARPE DIEM (Free subscription) | 04/20/2009
Is Oregon's high minimum wage partially to blame for the state's 12.1% unemployment rate, second highest in the nation (only Michigan is higher at 12.6% , see chart above of Oregon's jobless rate in blue vs. US rate in red)? The major business organizations in Oregon think so, and so do some members of the Legislature: Lawmakers are considering a bill that would override a 2002 citizen initiative and...
It's Okay to Say That (Free subscription) | 04/18/2009
Not exactly a good time to be looking for a new job.
The Oregon Economics Blog (Free subscription) | 04/14/2009
The latest Oregon unemployment number caught me by surprise but not because of job losses. Unemployment is a measure of all those residents who are actively looking for work and cannot find it. I knew the job loss number would be roughly 14,000, what I didn't expect was the surge in people looking for work. I was chatting with a colleague the other week and was lamenting the fact that it was going...
Progressive Values (Free subscription) | 04/14/2009
Normally a higher wage state with many quality union jobs, Oregon's March unemployment rate has soared to a dismal 12.1%, likely the worst in the nation even beyond the 12.0% unemployment rate of Michigan as the Detroit automobile industry collapses in the wake of this serious global recession. While the federal stimulus efforts are targeted at boosting the economy quickly by even boosting such things...
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