Oregon jobless rate ticks back down to 8.4 percent
SALEM, Ore. (AP) - Oregon's unemployment rate is down to 8.4 percent, at the lower end of a range where it has been bouncing around since the beginning of 2012.
The state Employment Department also says job creation figures for November were improved from a month earlier: Payroll grew by 600 jobs in November after a loss of 800 in October.
The October number was revised after closer examination to a third of original estimate of 2,400 jobs lost.
The department's Tuesday report was one of a string in 2012 marked by choppy figures as Oregon's economy recovered slowly from the Great Recession.
The unemployment rate has ranged from 8.4 percent to 8.9 percent in 2012.
Overall, the number of people unemployed has dropped by more than 12,000 since November 2011, to about 160,000.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
FULL TIME JOBS FOR A STRONG AMERICA!
Probably due to seasonal Christmas employment. If not, are these meaningful jobs? Or just ann increase in temporaries with no benefits? Or have a number of job-seekersjust given up? Stats without explanation can be made to reflect anything.
12,000 less unemployed. How many of those gave up looking? How many of them actually have a private sector job?
@2012 Hope and Change    """""How many of them actually have a private sector job?""""""
Â
I would guess since the story DOESN'T define what the numbers mean,  its a safe assumption its more gave up looking.
Oregon is in trouble along with Washington. Â The environmentalists have destroyed the thing that kept both of these states going for years. Â That is the using of our natural resources. Â Now I doubt if either state will ever recover. Â They will never have the good jobs they had before and now call it the new new. Â It's a cop-out. Â Yes there are states with lower unemployment rates than in Oregon and yes, Â there are a lot of people who would like to move, but can't because the economy is in the toilet and they can't give their homes away let alone sell them for a good price. Â According to people who know what's going to happen, we will be in this mess for a long long time, if not forever. Â If we were given the true rate of unemployment, it would make the politicians look bad and we can't have that.Â
 @boomer It's not surprising that some will blame one group for all of our country's economic problems. Those who differ from you philosophically make for a convenient scapegoat. The real answer, of course, is complex. Just as one example, manufacturing in this country has been moving overseas for decades (ex. Nike built its entire company on cheap Asian labor). As another example, greedy Wall Street types created ever-more complex financial instruments in order to create nearly worthless investments in one of the greatest ponzi schemes in history. I could go on but it hardly seems worth it...keep blaming environmentalists if it gives you comfort.
@zenpractice @boomer Looks like you have your own convenient scapegoats that favor your particular prejudices. True Nike went overseas as did alot of lower end manufacturering I pay well north of $100.00 for a US made set of athletic shoes and better than $ 300.00 for US dress/business shoes. Most people can't afford that cost. Environmental and other regulations add a substantial cost burden on US made products over their overseas competitors so major cost disadvantage of course the us based manufacturers could just go broke in the US. True Wall Street did really stupid, some of us feel illegal, financial masignations but those were encouraged by our government and backed by the famous GSE's of Fanney, Freddy & FHA that were had in glove with Wall Street. The attempts that the Bush administration made to curtail some of the more egregious abuses were blocked by the congress. The current admi istrations justice department has issued essentially no indictments and has infact exhonorated the largest firms so must have been legal. As to the environmentalist in Oregon we see blocking lawsuits for every timber sale on public land and some private sales as well, suits about logging roads, suits to stop cattle grazing, suits to stop wind energy, wave energy, coal trains ( oops pending) solar farms, road construction, fishing, hydroelectric generation, navigational dredging etc. etc. The Spotted Owl was a vehicle for the environmetnal groups to essentially shut down logging in all public forrests It ultimately cost some 60,000 family wage timber product jobs, thousands of personal and business bankruptcies and virtually destroyed or impoverished dozens of small timber towns. So you're right I could go on but it hardly seems woth it. BTW it's good news that unemployment is down just would be nice if we had an environmental policy that focused on environmental mitigation and job protection and creation
Maybe, due to the methodology used to estimate (it is never actually 'counted') the number of unemployed, no one really knows what the true number is... (?) Â
At the same time, ask yourself who benefits by obfuscating the true scope/scale of the problem.
Â
For some strange reason, AP reports about employment levels seem never to include: a). the number of persons estimated to have 'fallen off the official rolls' [truly jobless, but no longer registered with local Emp. Dept.], and, b). the better indicator of true unemployment combined with underemployment -- the 'U-6' estimate.
I think that is very positive news and its great to see it headed in the right direction.
I find it amazing that  Oregonians keep electing leadership  with policies that have kept our unemployment rate HIGHER  than the national average for the last 16 years or more.Â
 @kramr You could always move to New Jersey. They voted in a Republican governor in 2010 and his policies have hammered the unemployment rate down to around 9.9% ever since he took office.
@Max Quinn Â
  the last 6 years of first go round with Dr. ReRun every single year of K2 and both years so far of Dr. ReRun's second go round have had higher than the national average of UE.
You and all the other lefties have been telling us that there is no possible way Bronco Bamma could have fixed the economy in only FOUR years. So assuming you are not a hypocrite, you should NOT be expecting anything from the round mound of the jersey shore for at least another couple years if not more.
Â
Or if you want to play the game, look at cali who had an R gov but now has a D governor with a CURRENT UE rate of 10.1%.
Â
BTWÂ the ten states with the highest UE are more blue than red......... what a surprise.
Â
One last thiing Max, why are you so quick to defend such a pathetic record????? for the last 16 years more states have done better than Oregon, why is that OK with you??
@Max Quinn   """"""Dudley offered Romney-lite. Remember that he was going to lower everyone's taxes and raise spending on education (because people want that) and it would all balance out somehow."""""
Â
Oregon is 11th from the bottom, I'd say its worth a try........ given we have 16 years of experience of what doesn't work.
@Max Quinn  """""" And calling Kitzhaber Dr. ReRun is non-hacksmanship?""""
 Actually it is, Its called a sense of humor.Â
Just like Bronco Bamma which is from this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjrthOPLAKM
Â
Taxhaber, Taxslober would be hacksmanship
Â
Seems like the stats going back 13 years instead of just 10 years is stacking the deck. why not go back just 10 to be consistent with RP stat.
Â
I guess its all on how you look at it
Â
. http://www.cox.smu.edu/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=bf203a41-927c-4b24-8131-bcacdf4ca9b8&groupId=66768
Â
Â
Â
 @kramr And calling Kitzhaber Dr. ReRun is non-hacksmanship?
Â
Dudley offered Romney-lite. Remember that he was going to lower everyone's taxes and raise spending on education (because people want that) and it would all balance out somehow.Â
Â
I don't think Perry's had much effect on the economy in Texas:Â http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/perrys-growth-failure-in-texas. This writer shows a dip in GDP for Texas, but then goes on to admit that there's no telling how Perry's policies have affected it - which is what I believe.Â
Â
But, you got me - I do complain. I admit it.
@Max Quinn  """""As it turns out, I'm not expecting much from the " round mound of the jersey shore"."""""
So just bringing it up to be a partisan hack then?
Â
"""I don't think governors have much effect on the economy one way or the other.""""
depends on the governor, I do believe Rick Perry has had a very positive effect on the business growth in his state since he took office. Likewise I believe Governor MoonBeam is having the opposite effect in cali with very anti business regulations.
Â
""""If you want to take a break from complaining"""""
Funny how my posts are complaining, yet yours arn't.......
Â
"""""Â Dr. Rerun implement today that would lower the state's unemployment rate?""""
repealing #66 & #67 would be a start, and the short answer would be pretty much Dudley's vision for Oregon or even Allen Alley's for that matter.
Hell, were 11th from the bottom couldn't get much worse trying something different.
 @kramr As it turns out, I'm not expecting much from the " round mound of the jersey shore".
Â
In reality, I don't think governors have much effect on the economy one way or the other. They can cut some tax deals here and there, but not much else. The governor of North Dakota didn't put all that natural gas and oil in the ground. He didn't keep the population small so that surge in fossil fuel hiring would look large as a percentage of population.
Â
If you want to take a break from complaining, here's a question: What policies could Dr. Rerun implement today that would lower the state's unemployment rate? This is pretend, so you don't cop out by saying he won't do it - just pretend he'll do whatever you say (economically).
 @kramr Which states are lower than the national average? If the employment rate is so important to you why don;t you move to one of those states? Or, work to make it lower in the state you do live in? Or, you can simply continue come on this forum and complain....
@zenpractice  """"Which states are lower than the national average?"""""Â
 Mostly red states  :)
Â
Oregon has the 11TH WORST UNEMPLOYMENT RATE in the ENTIRE COUNTRY.  38 out of 50 states are doing better than oregon, Why are you so quick to defend such a pathetic record?????
Â
"""""why don;t you move to one of those states?""""
 as a life long resident of OR, I like the state but I may leave once my kids finish high school.
Â
Â