Oregon Public Broadcasting

The latest monthly economic report from the University of Oregon indicates the state is nearing the bottom of its financial downturn. Rob Manning has more.

Oregon’s index of economic indicators showed a negligible uptick in April.

That’s the second increase in four months in the index of employment, construction, consumer, and transportation numbers. But the figures have changed relatively little since the beginning of the year.

The index’s author, Tim Duy, suggests the economic deterioration is slowing down, but hasn’t hit bottom yet.

Tim Duy: “I’d like to see initial unemployment numbers come down lower. I’d like to see stability in the employment services’ payrolls to start to say ‘we’re hitting the bottom there’.”

Duy says once Oregon hits bottom, it’s possible that the state will have a “jobless” or start-stop recovery, where things don’t look consistently better for a while longer.

The rough economic news isn’t keeping people from moving to the Portland-Vancouver area.

A new “Prosperity Index” report anticipates almost 40,000 new residents this year.