May’s unemployment rate holds steady at 10.6 percent

UPDATE • State could be ‘bouncing along the bottom’ of the national recession

Pamplin Media Group, Jun 15, 2010, Updated Jun 15, 2010 (6 Reader comments)

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Oregon’s economy might be “bouncing on the bottom” of the deep national recession, as the state’s unemployment rate for May stayed at 10.6 percent for the third straight month.

That means that in May, 202,944 Oregonians were unemployed. A year ago, 223,474 Oregonians were unemployed.

The unemployment rate announced Tuesday morning has been in that range for the past seven months, leading state employment department officials to conclude that at least here, the worst national recession in nearly 70 years has hit bottom and is poised to go up.

“I think what we’re seeing right now is the economy bouncing along the bottom that some people predicted would happen,” said Amy Vander Vliet, the state’s regional employment economist.

The state’s employment was flat, after a gain of 5,500 jobs in April, Vander Vliet told reporters. Several industries, including government and construction, gained jobs in the past month.

Federal Census hiring helped account for some of the job growth, she said. Government added 6,800 jobs in May. The addition of 4,451 intermittent Census workers boosted both federal government and total government for May, adding to the 1,952 already working for the Census in April.

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