Klamath County holds Oregon's highest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for February

Klamath County had Oregon’s highest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in February at 5.5%.

In February 2022, 35 of Oregon’s 36 counties experienced over-the-month decreases in their unemployment rates. Wheeler County experienced no over-the-month change in its unemployment rate. Five counties experienced a 0.3 percentage point decrease or more over the month including Gilliam, Grant, Hood River, Jefferson, and Union counties.

Klamath County had Oregon’s highest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in February at 5.5%. Other counties with some of the highest unemployment rates included Grant (5.4%), Curry (5.3%), Crook (5.2%), and Lincoln (5.2%).

Benton and Wheeler counties registered the lowest unemployment rate for the month at 3.0% each. Other counties with some of the lowest unemployment rates in February were Hood River (3.2%), Washington (3.3%), and Sherman (3.4%). Sixteen counties had unemployment rates at or below the statewide rate of 4.0%. Twelve counties also had unemployment rates at or below the nationwide rate of 3.8%.

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased in all six of Oregon’s broad regions between February 2021 and February 2022. Central Oregon has recovered from pandemic job losses. All other areas still have room to recover. The largest job increases since February 2021 occurred in the Central Oregon (5.5%) region. The Portland 5 (5.3%) and Willamette Valley (4.1%) regions also experienced large over-the-year employment increases. Growth occurred at a slower pace in other regions: Eastern Oregon (3.1%), Southern Oregon (1.8%), and the Coast (1.6%).

Source: https://oregonemployment.blogspot.com/2022/03/february-2022-employment-and.html