Northwest Oregon Economic Update Northwest Oregon Works April

Northwest Oregon Economic Update Northwest Oregon Works April 24, 2020 By Erik Knoder and Shawna Sykes Oregon Employment Department Workforce and Economic Research Division

Too close for comfort!

More of a natural disaster than a businesscycle recession, hence response problems.

Since COVID-19 333, 700 Initial Unemployment Claims Filed Statewide 230, 022 Claims Processed Thus Far Claims Processing Staff Increased from 106 to 520

Claims continue to spread across industries.

Focus on Northwest Oregon Benton County Clatsop County Columbia County Lincoln County Tillamook County

• Northwest Oregon had nearly 13, 000 processed UI claims from March 15 to April 18, greater than the total claims for all of 2019 (10, 204). • Statewide there were 45% more claims filed than processed during that time. It is possible that roughly 18, 500 claims may have been filed from Northwest Oregon. • There were 103, 020 nonfarm payroll jobs in Northwest Oregon in March. Average employment was 119, 669 for Northwest Oregon residents in the first quarter of 2020. • The peak number of unemployed in Northwest Oregon during the Great Recession was 13, 135. (11. 7% Unemployment rate, May, 2009) • Remember: Unemployment claims do not equal unemployment.

Claims are disproportionately from lower-wage sectors

More is unknown than known Oregonians filed 333, 700 UI claims in five weeks. That was 3. 6 times as many as during the worst five-week period of the Great Recession. WARN notices: March 19 -April 21 --53 notices for 8, 329 employees; February 13 -March 18 – two notices for 130 employees. May 27 will be the release of April unemployment and employment data.

For more economic information, call : Erik Knoder, Regional Economist Email: Erik. A. Knoder@Oregon. gov Cell: 541 -351 -5595 Shawna Sykes, Workforce Analyst/Economist Email: Shawna. L. Sykes@Oregon. gov Cell: 503. 396. 7355 Visit our web site at: www. Quality. Info. org Get the latest workforce and economic research delivered to your inbox! Sign up at our web site under Publications. Join the conversation: Oregon. Employment. blogspot. com Twitter@Or. Employment