Statewide Unemployment Inches Up to 7.2%

SALEM, OR-Unemployment in Oregon ticked up slightly during March, rising to 7.2% from 7.1% at the end of February, according to the latest monthly report from David Cooke, an economist with the Oregon Unemployment Department. The movement matches nationwide unemployment, which also rose by one-tenth of a percentage point in March, from 5.6% in February to 5.7% in March.Despite the one-month rise, Cooke says unemployment in Oregon has been on a generally downward trend since reaching a peak of 8.7 percent in July 2003. Last year at this time, statewide unemployment was 8.2%.All told, 150,926 Oregonians were officially unemployed at the end of March. The official unemployed are all individuals in the civilian non-institutional population 16 years of age and over who were without a job, but actively seeking a job and available for work. Nonfarm payroll employment (seasonally adjusted) continued to rise in March, adding 2,300 jobs on the heels of adding 9,700 in February. Employment growth was particularly strong in manufacturing and in professional and business services. Manufacturing employment grew by 1,700 jobs in March, a time of year when a 1,000-job decline would have been the norm, says Cooke, and professional and business services grew by 3,000 jobs during March, which is about 2,500 jobs above the typical seasonal trend.There are now 1.57 million jobs in the state, a number that has been expanding over the past three quarters. Since reaching a low point of 1.55 million in June 2003, payroll employment has grown by 18,700 jobs, which translates to an annual expansion rate of 1.6%.