Oregon Public Broadcasting

Oregon’s unemployment rate shot up again in November to 8.1 percent. As Kristian Foden-Vencil reports, the level is now not far from the peak of 8.5 percent seen during the last recession.

The last few months have not been good to Oregon’s workers. David Cooke is the state economist.

David Cooke: “Oregon’s unemployment rate has risen very substantially over the last five months. The rate was about 5.5 percent during the first half of the year and now it’s shot up to 8.1 percent. Meanwhile payroll employment has dropped by nearly 35,000 jobs since reaching a high point in February of this year, that’s a drop of 2.0 percent.”

The job losses started in the manufacturing and construction industries, and have now spread to the restaurant and retail trades. Job gains were seen in education and health care.

Oregon’s jobless rate is now more than 1.5 percent higher than the national average.