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News Releases
Press Release: Oregon's Nonfarm Payroll Employment Drops by 4,600 in October - 11/15/23

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 15, 2023

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Gail Krumenauer, State Employment Economist 
(971) 301-3771

Video and Audio available at 10 a.m.

David Cooke, Economist 
(971) 375-5288

Oregon’s Nonfarm Payroll Employment Drops by 4,600 in October

In October, Oregon’s seasonally adjusted nonfarm payroll employment declined by 4,600 jobs, following a revised gain of 5,500 jobs in September. October’s losses were largest in professional and business services (-1,600 jobs) and leisure and hospitality (-1,500). Three industries each cut 900 jobs: manufacturing; retail trade; and health care and social assistance. The only industry growing substantially in October was construction, which added 1,500 jobs.

Professional and business services expanded slightly slower than overall employment over the past 12 months, adding 4,400 jobs, or 1.7%, compared with growth of 44,300 jobs, or 2.3%, for total nonfarm payroll employment. While most of the industry grew rapidly over this period, employment services trended downward, cutting 4,100 jobs, or 9.0%, since October 2022.

Although leisure and hospitality gained 8,700 jobs, or 4.3%, in the past 12 months, the industry showed recent weakness with job declines of 300 in September and 1,500 in October. While accommodation and food services cut 2,500 jobs over the past two months, arts, entertainment, and recreation expanded in both months for a combined gain of 700 jobs.

Manufacturing continued to decline, shedding 900 jobs in October. It is down 4,400 jobs, or 2.3%, in the past 12 months. Most of the cuts were in durable goods manufacturing, which is down 4,900 jobs since October 2022. In contrast, nondurable goods manufacturing added 500 jobs over the year.

Construction employment surged to another record high in October, gaining 1,500 jobs. At 123,000 jobs in October, construction is up 6,000 jobs, or 5.1%, since October 2022.

Health care and social assistance grew the fastest of the major industries over the past 12 months, adding 16,300 jobs, or 6.0%. Gains since October 2022 were led by social assistance and nursing and residential care facilities, which each grew by close to 8%.

Oregon’s unemployment rate was 3.6% in October and 3.5% in September. October was the sixth consecutive month in which Oregon’s unemployment rate was between 3.4% and 3.7%. The U.S. unemployment rate was 3.8% in September and 3.9% in October.

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Next Press Releases

The Oregon Employment Department plans to release the October county and metropolitan area unemployment rates on Tuesday, Nov. 21, and the next statewide unemployment rate and employment survey data for November on Wednesday, Dec. 20.

Notes: 

All numbers in the above narrative are seasonally adjusted except for employment services and the component industries within health care and social assistance.

The Oregon Employment Department and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) work cooperatively to develop and publish monthly Oregon payroll employment and labor force data. The estimates of monthly job gains and losses are based on a survey of businesses. The estimates of unemployment are based on a survey of households and other sources.

The Oregon Employment Department publishes payroll employment estimates that are revised quarterly by using employment counts from employer unemployment insurance tax records. All department publications use this Official Oregon Series data unless noted otherwise. This month’s release incorporates the April, May, and June 2023 tax records data. The department continues to make the original nonfarm payroll employment series available; these data are produced by the BLS.

The PDF version of the news release can be found at QualityInfo.org/press-release. To obtain the data in other formats such as in Excel, visit QualityInfo.org, select Tools, then choose LAUS or CES under the Economy header. To request the press release as a Word document, contact the person shown at the top of this press release.

To file a claim for unemployment benefits or get more information about unemployment programs, visit unemployment.oregon.gov.

The Oregon Employment Department (OED) is an equal opportunity agency. OED provides free help so you can use our services. Some examples are sign language and spoken-language interpreters, written materials in other languages, large print, audio, and other formats. To get help, please call 503-947-1444. TTY users call 711. You can also send an email to communications@employ.oregon.gov.

El Departamento de Empleo de Oregon (OED) es una agencia de igualdad de oportunidades. El OED proporciona ayuda gratuita para que usted pueda utilizar nuestros servicios. Algunos ejemplos son intérpretes de lengua de señas e idiomas hablados, materiales escritos en otros idiomas, letra grande, audio y otros formatos. Para obtener ayuda, por favor llame al 503-947-1444. Usuarios de TTY pueden llamar al 711. También puede enviar un correo electrónico a communications@employ.oregon.gov.

 

Press Release: Oregon Employment Department announces 2024 Tax and Contribution Rates - 11/15/23

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   
Nov. 15, 2023

Media Contact:   
Rebeka Gipson-King
Communications@employ.oregon.gov 

Oregon Employment Department announces 
2024 rates for Paid Leave Oregon and 
Unemployment Insurance
 

SALEM, Ore. — Today, the Oregon Employment Department announced the 2024 contribution rate for Paid Leave Oregon and 2024 tax rate for Unemployment Insurance. The department is mailing each employer their annual notice of the new rates

2024 Unemployment Insurance Tax Rate 

The department uses a statutory formula to establish the annual tax rate for employers. Employer taxes go into the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund in Oregon, which is the source of unemployment insurance benefits for Oregon workers. Workers do not contribute to this fund or to their unemployment benefits. 

As a self-balancing fund, Oregon’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund is one of the healthiest in the country. The trust fund balance also earns interest, which helps keep employers’ tax rates lower. The goal of the statutory formula is to reach a balance between revenue and expenditures, where the state takes in about the same amount of money in taxes as it pays out in benefits. Oregon’s trust fund has recovered so well from the pandemic that the state has been able keep tax revenue lower than benefit payments for several years, and that will continue in 2024. 

The Unemployment Insurance tax rate for new employers will rise slightly for 2024, from a rate of 2.1% of taxable wages up to $50,900 per employee in the 2023 calendar year (tax rate schedule II), to a rate of 2.4% of taxable wages up to $52,800 for the 2024 calendar year (tax rate schedule III).  

Following the self-balancing formula laid out in statute, the tax schedule for 2024 moved from schedule II to schedule III. The primary driver behind this change was wage growth in 2022. Higher wages in 2022 caused higher average weekly benefit payouts in 2023. Higher benefit amounts pushed Oregon into the next schedule for 2024.  

2024 Paid Leave Oregon Contribution Rate 

Both employers and employees pay contributions to the Paid Leave Oregon Trust Fund, which provides benefits for Oregon workers.  

The Paid Leave Oregon contribution rate for 2024 is 1% of employee wages and applies to up to $168,600 of wages. This is the Social Security taxable maximum wage amount for 2024. Contributions for Paid Leave Oregon are divided between employees and employers, with 60 percent of the rate paid by employees and 40 percent by employers. 

“We want to thank Oregon businesses for all they do to promote economic stability in Oregon, even during challenging times,” Gerstenfeld said. “We know employers have faced significant challenges in the past several years, yet Oregon’s employers continue to focus on job growth, contributing to our economy and building a robust workforce.” 

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The Oregon Employment Department (OED) is an equal opportunity agency. OED provides free help so you can use our services. Some examples are sign language and spoken-language interpreters, written materials in other languages, large print, audio, and other formats. To get help, please call 503-947-1444. TTY users call 711. You can also send an email to communications@employ.oregon.gov.

El Departamento de Empleo de Oregon (OED) es una agencia de igualdad de oportunidades. El OED proporciona ayuda gratuita para que usted pueda utilizar nuestros servicios. Algunos ejemplos son intérpretes de lengua de señas e idiomas hablados, materiales escritos en otros idiomas, letra grande, audio y otros formatos. Para obtener ayuda, por favor llame al 503-947-1444. Usuarios de TTY pueden llamar al 711. También puede enviar un correo electrónico a communications@employ.oregon.gov.

Media Advisory: Oregon Employment Department to Host Media Briefing Nov. 15 - 11/13/23

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Nov. 13, 2023

Media Contact: 

Communications@employ.oregon.gov  

***MEDIA ADVISORY***

Oregon Employment Department to Host 
Media Briefing Nov. 15

WHO:           Gail Krumenauer, state employment economist; David Gerstenfeld, OED director; and Karen Madden Humelbaugh, Paid Leave Oregon director

WHEN:         Wednesday, 1 p.m., Nov. 15, 2023

WHAT:              The Oregon Employment Department is hosting a video-conference media briefing to share updates on economic and workforce-related trends in Oregon, 2024 contribution tax rates, and news from Paid Leave Oregon.

WHERE:       Via Zoom video conference: Members of the media must RSVP by emailing Communications@employ.oregon.gov by noon on Wednesday, Nov. 15. 
We will provide video conference login information to all reporters who RSVP.  
After the briefing concludes, we will email a recording of the video conference to reporters who RSVP’d.

OTHER:       For updates on Paid Leave Oregon, visit paidleave.oregon.gov

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The Oregon Employment Department (OED) is an equal opportunity agency. OED provides free help so you can use our services. Some examples are sign language and spoken-language interpreters, written materials in other languages, large print, audio, and other formats. To get help, please call 503-947-1444. TTY users call 711. You can also send an email to communications@employ.oregon.gov.

El Departamento de Empleo de Oregon (OED) es una agencia de igualdad de oportunidades. El OED proporciona ayuda gratuita para que usted pueda utilizar nuestros servicios. Algunos ejemplos son intérpretes de lengua de señas e idiomas hablados, materiales escritos en otros idiomas, letra grande, audio y otros formatos. Para obtener ayuda, por favor llame al 503-947-1444. Usuarios de TTY pueden llamar al 711. También puede enviar un correo electrónico a communications@employ.oregon.gov.