Ore. jobless rate unchanged in October

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - There was no change in the unemployment rate in Oregon for October.

The state released jobless figures for last month on Monday, and the rate for October was 11.3 percent - the same as the revised number for September.

This makes Oregon one of the 27 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, eligible for extended federally-paid unemployment insurance benefits. (Furthers details at "Senate passes unemployment, homebuyer extensions.") About 7,500 unemployed Oregonians went on that program beginning this week, the first week for checks to go out under that extended federal payment plan.

Meanwhile, Oregon Employment Department officials report that enrollment in Oregon's university is up by 5,000 over October 2008. That's not including additional Oregonians who have enrolled in community college and other continuing education schools.

"There appears a connection between the economy and going back to school," said Art Ayre, a state employment economist speaking at Monday's WorkSource Oregon press conference in Tualatin.

Meanwhile, manufacturing employment had a 14 percent drop: "That's a very large decline, though it's slightly better than the loss year-to-year in July 2009," Ayre said.

Job losses in Oregon also concentrated in construction, leisure and hospitality.

There were 12,000 new, initial unemployment initial claims over the past week, from Nov. 9 to Nov. 15. There also has been an increase in the number of people exhausing those benefits; about 40 percent of Oregonians who claim benefits are using up the first 26-week term without finding a job.

"That's up slightly from a year ago," Ayre said, "when that number was at 34 percent."

Nearly 179,000 Oregonians now are receiving some from of unemployment benefits.

At the same time, the Oregon Employment Department is notifying employers that payroll taxes are going up. Employers will see their tax rate go up starting January 2010. Officials said the increase is aimed to keep the state unemployment insurance trust fund in balance.

Nationally, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate hit 10.2 percent October, the highest level in 26 years. It was also up nearly a half percentage point up from 9.8 percent in September.

The Oregon rate has fallen nearly a full percentage point from a high of 12.2 percent in May. But it is still much higher than the 7.2 percent jobless rate for the state in October 2008.

- KATU.com and KATU News staff contributed to this report.