Employment in South Central Oregon: January 2018

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Revisions using payroll tax records revealed a more rosy employment situation in both Klamath and Lake counties. The region posted strong job growth over the past year; in fact, the rate of job growth in both counties was amongst the fastest of non-metro counties in the state.

Klamath County:
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained little changed at 6.0 percent in January compared with 5.9 percent in December. The rate was essentially unchanged from this time last year when it was 6.2 percent. Despite little change in the unemployment rate there was very strong growth in the labor force, which expanded by around 4.5 percent.

Klamath County shed 330 jobs in January, significantly fewer losses than typically expected this time of year. Klamath County usually sheds closer to 700 jobs in January.

Nonfarm businesses across the county added around 830 jobs over the past year. This is a notable increase over the original estimates. These revised estimates revealed that Klamath County’s nonfarm employment rose by 3.8 percent over the past year, which is much faster than the original estimate (~1%). Much of the boost in employment came from local government education, which includes K-12, Klamath Community College, and Oregon Institute of Technology. Notable private-sector gains came in leisure and hospitality and health care. There were no significant job losses over the past year; however, construction and mining and logging posted some minor losses.

Lake County:
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 5.5 percent in January. The rate was 6.1 percent in January 2017, not a statistically significant decline.

The county lost 20 jobs in January, fewer than typically expected this time of year.

Recent revisions boosted total nonfarm employment in Lake County. The county added 90 nonfarm jobs (+4.3%) over the past year, while the original estimates were showing no change. Over half the job growth (+50 jobs) came from the public sector.

Press release from State of Oregon Employment Department.