Unemployment Rates in Oregon Counties, March 25

Benton County had Oregon’s lowest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in February at 5.3 percent. Harney County (11.6%) registered the highest rate for the month. Fourteen of Oregon’s counties had unemployment rates at or below the statewide rate of 6.9 percent and 12 were below the nationwide rate of 6.7 percent. Grant County saw the largest improvement in its unemployment rate over the year with a drop of 3.7 percentage points. Total nonfarm payroll employment rose in all of Oregon’s six broad regions between February 2013 and February 2014. The largest job gains occurred in Central Oregon (+2.7%). The Portland area (+2.2%), the Willamette Valley (+1.9%), Southern Oregon (+0.4%), Eastern Oregon (0.3%), and the Oregon Coast (+0.2%) also saw job growth over the year.