Oregon's Unemployment Is Still At Its Lowest Rate Ever

Oregon unemployment is still at its lowest rate ever, according to figures released Tuesday by the Oregon Employment Department. 

The unemployment rate remained at 4% in July, the same as it was in June. It's the lowest unemployment rate the state has ever had. Oregon last saw that rate in the summer of 2018. 

Oregon's unemployment rate is only slightly above the national rate, which stood at 3.7% in both June and July of this year. 

Since last July, the state has seen an increase of 29,600 jobs, not including farm jobs. The most rapid job growth happened in the transportation, warehousing and utility sector, and in construction. 

Some specific job sectors saw losses over the last year. Retail trade saw a loss of almost 3,000 jobs and the information industry, including newspaper and book publishers, saw a loss of 1,500 jobs over the past 12 months.

Copyright 2019 Oregon Public Broadcasting. To see more, visit Oregon Public Broadcasting.