Oregon Public Broadcasting

Oregon's unemployment rate stands at 10.5 percent. As Kristian Foden-Vencil reports, the rate has been stuck at that relatively high level for the last eight months.

The number of jobs in Oregon dropped by about 3600 in June, according to the latest figures from the state Employment Department.

But state economist, Amy Vander Vliet, says the overall trend is essentially flat.

Amy Vander Vliet: "Excluding the government sector, five broad industries gained jobs over the month. But these gains were offset by losses in five other broad industries. So in other words there's been no real clear trends of growth or decline in the private sector over the last few months."

The government sector has seen substantial growth followed by an equal reduction over the last few months -- as it hired census workers and then laid them off.

Compared to the rest of the country, Oregon has the 11th highest unemployment rate. It's one percent higher than the national average of 9.5 percent.

The economy is regarded as healthy when the rate stands at about five or six percent.