Oregon's November employment numbers have hit record highs. The Employment Department says more Oregonians are working now than before the recession started in 2007.
Oregon added 11,200 jobs in November. That’s the highest monthly gain since the Employment Department began recording seasonally adjusted figures in 1990.
State employment economist David Cooke says those gains helped set another new state employment record: “In November the seasonally adjusted job count was 1,748,00 jobs. That is the record number of jobs for any month going back historically.”
Six industry sectors added more than a thousand jobs last month with retail trade leading the way. The unemployment rate stayed flat at seven percent, despite the high numbers. Cooke says that’s because employment gains have been matched by steady growth in the labor force.
Copyright 2014 Oregon Public Broadcasting
