This is a press release courtesy of the State of Oregon

Oregon’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.6 percent in December, essentially unchanged from 5.5 percent in November. The U.S. seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 5.0 percent in December from 4.7 percent in November.

In December, Oregon’s seasonally adjusted nonfarm payroll employment rose for the third consecutive month, adding 900 jobs following a gain of 7,500 in November.

Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey Data) In December, seasonally adjusted payroll employment grew by 900 after gaining 7,500 in November and 3,200 in October. Most of the major industries performed in line with seasonal expectations for December.

One exception was construction, which dropped 2,600 jobs below its normal December seasonal pattern. The other exception was government, which was 1,600 jobs above its normal December seasonal pattern.

The moderately strong job showing in the last three months of the year put Oregon’s payroll employment up 26,700 over the past 12 months, a gain of 1.6 percent.

Construction cut 5,100 jobs in December when a loss of 2,500 is the normal seasonal pattern. No component of construction added jobs in December.

Job losses were largest in residential building construction (-1,000 jobs), heavy and civil engineering construction (-1,100) and building finishing contractors (-1,300). On December 2nd and 3rd, two severe storms struck northwest Oregon.

The storms caused tens of millions of dollars in damage from wind, floods, landslides, and mudslides, and may have had an effect on December construction employment.

The December job cuts in construction put seasonally adjusted employment in the industry at 98,100, the lowest level since January 2006, when the figure was 96,900 jobs.

Government employment, after seasonal adjustment, has been on a rising trend throughout 2007. The trend continued in December, as government added 1,600 jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis.

While federal government continued its long-term decline, local government added 1,500 jobs, accounting for most of government’s seasonally adjusted December gain.

Manufacturing normally shows a drop of 800 jobs in December, but this time was flat. Food manufacturing added 400 jobs in December. Meanwhile, computer and electronic product manufacturing cut 300 jobs and transportation equipment manufacturing cut 600 jobs.

At 202,400 jobs, manufacturing was close to its level 12 months prior.

Several durable goods manufacturing industries have seen job losses over that time: wood product manufacturing (-2,000 jobs), computer and electronic product manufacturing (-1,400) and transportation equipment (-2,800). These losses were offset by over-the-year gains in primary metals (+900 jobs), machinery (+1,100) and food manufacturing (+2,400).

Trade, transportation and utilities performed slightly worse than normal in December, adding only 900 jobs when a gain of 1,700 would be the normal seasonal pattern for the month.

As was the case at the national level, the holiday shopping season saw weak trends in Oregon over the last three months of 2007 compared to prior years.

Seasonally adjusted employment in retail trade was down 500 jobs between September and December. Conversely, wholesale trade continued its recent surge, rising 1,900 jobs over the last three months of the year.