PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Oregon’s unemployment rate held steady in May as employers added nearly 5,000 jobs.
The state Employment Department said Tuesday the jobless rate was 4.1 percent - a level it’s been at or near for well over a year. Strong jobs gains in construction, health care and other industries were partially offset by a weak month for wholesale trade and retail trade.
The May gains followed a month in which Oregon lost jobs. But state economists said Oregon only lost 700 jobs in April, well below the initial estimate of nearly 3,000 jobs.
Bolstered by construction and the leisure-and-hospitality industry, Oregon’s nonfarm employment has increased by 34,600 jobs, or 1.9 percent, over the past year. That’s faster than the national growth rate of 1.6 percent.
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