Around 10,000 federal workers in Oregon could miss their first full paycheck on Friday due to the ongoing government shutdown.
It’s a relatively small number of the state’s overall workforce of nearly two million people, but state economists say the effects could be especially felt in rural areas. In the last three months of 2024, the ten Oregon counties with the highest share of federal jobs were rural, according to the state’s Employment Department.
“For example, in Sherman County, 15% of all jobs were in federal government,” Gail Krumenauer, Oregon’s employment economist, said. The share is at least 8% in Grant, Harney and Lake counties.
Federal workers in the state also tend to have a higher annual salary than other workers, Krumenauer said. Last year, federal workers in Oregon had an average salary of around $98,500, about 38% higher than the average for all other jobs.
“Looking at rural areas, you can see that some of the pay differentials are huge,” she said. “I mentioned Sherman County, [...] federal government jobs pay an average of 88% more than the average for all jobs. Look along the coast and it’s 70% more in Curry County and it’s 83% more in Lincoln County.”
The picture pre-shutdown
Current employment data is not available because the federal agency responsible, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, is not releasing reports due to the government shutdown.
But prior to Oct. 1, employment numbers show around 29,000 federal workers in Oregon. That’s about 1.5% of Oregon’s overall workforce.
“Those are jobs on federal government payrolls at federal government establishments that are physically located within Oregon,” Krumenauer said. “What that doesn’t include is if there were any federal government contractors that aren’t on an agency payroll that are, you know, working in Oregon. Also, anyone whose work is maybe federally funded but they work in some other sector of the economy – that’s not included in the count either.”
The Oregon Employment Department estimates that of those federal workers, about 10,000 are facing furloughs due to the government shutdown.
With around 7,000 workers, the U.S. Postal Service is the agency with the most federal workers in Oregon. But Postal Service employers are still working during the shutdown because the agency’s budget is not funded through tax dollars.
The Department of Veterans Affairs employs around 6,400 workers in Oregon, making it the agency with the second-most workers in the state. A majority of those employees work in medical facilities that remain open through government shutdowns.
However, some of the 2,500 employees working for the Department of the Interior, the 4,300 at the Department of Agriculture, and the 2,900 workers for the Department of Defense are likely included in current federal furloughs.
Benefits for furloughed federal workers
Some federal workers may qualify for unemployment insurance while the government is shut down. Unemployment benefits would have to be paid back if the worker gets back pay from the federal government.
The Oregon Employment Department has reported an uptick in federal employees applying for benefits this month, but cautions that some of those could be due to seasonal layoffs or other factors.
“As expected, we’re not seeing a major impact on our workload from the ongoing federal shutdown,” Lindsi Leahy, unemployment insurance director at the department, said in a statement. “But we recognize the uncertainty and financial strain this has caused for many Oregonians.”
In most cases, to qualify for unemployment insurance, a worker needs to file a claim during the week they are out of work. In order to receive benefits for the last few weeks, a federal worker would have had to file claims with the state starting at the beginning of the month.
While the federal government has been shut down since Oct. 1, furloughed employees got a nearly full paycheck in early October for their work in September. Friday marks the first time workers are missing a full paycheck.
State agency encourages ‘grace’ from banks and other companies
The Oregon Division of Financial Regulation is urging insurance companies, banks, credit unions and health care service contractors to be lenient with furloughed employees who may be unable to pay bills. The state agency is providing guidance on how to help those workers, but lacks the authority to make it a requirement.
“We know the shutdown has affected thousands of families in Oregon and we are asking our regulated entities to give some grace to those who have no control over the situation they are currently in,” TK Keen, administrator for the division of financial regulation, said in a statement.
While few companies have specific assistance plans for out-of-work federal employees, many have general programs available for bill assistance.
“We support our members during any time of need through special loans, skip payments, debt consolidation, loan modification and more,” Cherie Kistner, director of corporate communications at Oregon Community Credit Union told OPB in an email. “These programs and services are available all the time; we don’t spin them up for any particular event or happening.”