The Silver Lining to Oregon's High Unemployment

Headlines screaming about Oregon's high unemployment is unsettling news. Still, sifting through the information there are some important facts to consider.

In reading the Oregonian yesterday, some telling facts were buried at the bottom of the story.

These points are important:

• Michigan's 14.1 percent jobless rate would be even higher if so many people hadn't left the state or stopped looking for work!


• While Michigan's labor force has been shrinking for some time, Oregon's labor force has been #2 for growth in the entire United States (3.1%, second only to Nevada).

So what is the good news? This recent in-migration to Oregon means we have more pent-up demand here for goods and services as the recovery takes hold. We cited yesterday a report indicating that the Portland metro's home value loss ranked on the middle lower end of the 20 cities in the S&P Case-Shiller home price index. This relatively strable value in housing is likely also a result of the demand for housing from ongoing population growth.

Stories about Oregon's unemployment are also not completely recognizing the future economic impact of strengthening economies among our international trading partners. The fact that China's economy is improving for example will undoubtedly result in an increasing demand for Oregon exports.