Oregon Public Broadcasting

A closely-watched economic survey released Monday shows three-months of stability for the Oregon economy – not so bad news.

But today we’ll check in with two people in our "Hard Times" series who would probably argue they aren't feeling that stability just yet.

We’ll talk to a Portland nurse who's taking on extra work to pay the bills.

But first, we’ll head out to Harney County, east of Bend, where the unemployment rate is more than  20 percent.

Central Oregon correspondent Ethan Lindsey visited the home of natural gas worker Mike Rust, where he lives with his wife and adult son.

The Rust family lives in a two-story house on the east side of Burns.

The spacious backyard isn’t a bad place to spend a sunny afternoon.

The front yard is crowded – chock full of chopped wood.

That’s not a good thing – chopping wood is how Mike Rust passes time when he’s stuck at home, and out of work.

Most of his jobs are laying natural gas pipe out of state.

Plus, Rust’s son lives out back. He’s also unemployed, which has some benefits.

Mike Rust: “Sometimes I get some work out of him every once in a while.”

Rust says remember, this is a timber county with 20-percent unemployment.

So there are  a lot of people trying to make ends meet by selling firewood.

Mike Rust: “There’s a lot of younger guys. My sons, several of them are out of work, and then a lot of their buddies that come by here want me to loan ‘em chainsaws to go cut wood – or borrow a pickup.”

Rust says if you can’t sell the wood – at least you can use it to cut back on the heating bills. That’s what he and his wife do.

Mike Rust: “We used to have an oil furnace, but, we got rid of the oil furnace. You might as well just take your money and throw your money in the furnace.”

Rust says the wood piles are good evidence that it’s hard times in Harney County. He says friends and neighbors are also out of work.

Steve Grasty: “There is a high level of work ethic, so folks are trying to find something to do. Doing odd jobs, and living on unemployment insurance.”

Judge Steve Grasty is sort of the chief executive of Harney County.

He says the doom and gloom talk is unwarranted.

Steve Grasty: “When you drive through the town, I don’t think you’re going to notice a difference in our community. Folks are hanging on, hoping that something new will come along.”

Right now, the new work in his county are short-term stimulus jobs – or summer contracts to fight wild fires.

But Grasty says green investments in biomass and wind power could bring permanent jobs.

Mike Rust says at 61, he’s too old to learn wind engineering or something like that.

So he’s not counting his chickens.

Mike Rust: “Things don’t change too quickly in Burns.”

Instead, Rust continues to hold out for a new natural gas pipeline job out in Wyoming that would start soon and could run through next year.

If he gets it, he says the wood he’s chopped will keep his home heated and his wife warm through the winter, while he’s not here.