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Oregon’s jobless rate hit 5.0% in August, the highest point since the pandemic. But no one knows what’s happened since then.
The federal government shutdown that began Oct. 1 halted the collection and reporting of state-by-state employment data. The data blackout will persist until Congress authorizes funding to resume tracking jobs data.
The federal and state governments are still collecting some different numbers, however, and the signs aren’t encouraging for Oregon’s labor market.
Newly filed unemployment claims are up 7.8% so far this year, at their highest point since 2021. Through mid-October, the state has received nearly 190,000 new jobless claims. That’s 14,000 more than it received during the same time last year.
The rise in initial claims has accelerated over the course of the year. Since June, the number of new filings is 20% higher than in the same period of 2024.
The number of people claiming unemployment isn’t the same as the number who are unemployed. They measure different things because the government classifies some people as unemployed even if they don’t qualify for benefits. But an increase in the number of people filing for unemployment generally corresponds to a rise in the unemployment rate.
The recent rise in jobless claims also coincides with a big increase in Oregon layoffs.
Intel, for example, laid off 2,400 Oregon workers in July. It promised to continue paying them for weeks or months, depending on how long they had worked for the company. So some of those former workers may be filing their initial benefits claims now.
Additionally, Wells Fargo has laid off several hundred Oregon workers in a series of cuts that began last December. Fred Meyer, Albertsons and UPS have all cut significant numbers of local jobs. And there’s been a spike in filings from federal workers furloughed by the government shutdown — 100 new claims in the week ending Oct. 18.
It also seems that unemployed workers are taking longer to find new jobs.
The Oregon Employment Department has fielded 1.4 million continued claims for unemployment benefits through mid-October. Workers file a continued claim for each week they are unemployed beyond their initial claim.
These continued claims are up 20% from a year ago, more evidence that Oregon’s job market is deteriorating.
“To me, that could be an indicator…that it could be more difficult for some unemployed workers to match up to their next job opportunity as quickly or easily,” said Gail Krumenauer, economist with the Oregon Employment Department.
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