Oregon Public Broadcasting

The University of Oregon's Index of Economic Indicators jumped almost two percent in January. Kristian Foden-Vencil reports.

The monthly index considers all kinds of financial data: from the number of new unemployment claims to orders for new goods.

The healthy January figure marks the third consecutive month the index has seen gains greater than one percent.

Tim Duy is the Director of the Oregon Economic Forum.

Tim Duy: "We're really pulling our way out of the recession and I think that we've got really solid indicators to support that contention. I think that challenge that we still face is the distance between where we are and where we're supposed to be."

The index finds the pace of layoffs is moderating; that initial unemployment claims are declining; and that trucking activity has increased as businesses rebuild their inventories.

The main problem remaining is translating the increased activity into significant job gains. That has yet to happen.