By Sara Cline
The Associated Press/Report for America

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — An 11-person COVID-19 outbreak at the Wilsonville office of the Oregon Employment Department will likely cause further delays in handling claims, officials said.

The outbreak “will cause real disruptions in our ability to get work at the pace we have been,” said David Gerstenfeld, acting director of the department, which has been dealing with backlog.

Officials at the state agency said many of the office’s 600 employees will soon work from home.

Health authorities have not advised the office to close, Gerstenfeld said. But Gov. Kate Brown’s COVID-19 safety orders require employers to allow work-from-home options when possible.

The department has made significant progress in enabling remote work and establishing safety protocols, Gerstenfeld said. He said he expects hundreds of Wilsonville employees to work from home in the future, but some can’t because they lack adequate Internet service.

As part of Brown’s proposed budget and policy agenda announced Tuesday, she wants $146 million to replace the employment department’s computer systems and implement a new paid family and medical leave program.

The employment department has faced numerous challenges throughout the pandemic while paying out more than $6 billion in benefits to 600,0000 people, Gerstenfeld said. Hundreds of thousands of people waited for weeks or months for payments while the department dealt with technical issues and an avalanche of claims.

Last week, the department began paying out about $300 million in federal benefits that had been delayed for eight months, the Statesman Journal reported.

The department has paid that money to 400,000 people, Gerstenfeld said. Around 52,000 Oregonians are still waiting for it.

The Oregon COVID-19 case count has surged since the beginning of November. The Oregon Health Authority reported 1,244 new confirmed cases Wednesday, bringing the state’s total to 78,160. The death toll is 953.

From Nov. 23 to Nov. 29, the most recent weekly report published by the health authority, there were new weekly records in cases and hospitalizations. During that week, 9,100 new cases were reported, a 5 percent increase from the previous week.

Patients hospitalized with COVID-19 also increased from the previous week by 9 percent. Currently there are 549 coronavirus patients in Oregon hospitals. Oregon’s COVID-19 testing positivity rate was 8.6 percent.

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SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon’s unemployment rate for August was 3.8 percent, the lowest unemployment rate since comparable records began 42 years ago.

The Oregon Employment Department reported Tuesday that the state’s unemployment rate is just below the national unemployment rate of 3.9 percent.

The number of unemployed people in August dropped to 80,500, down from 88,000 a year ago.

Many people entering the labor force are getting snapped up by employers in a very tight job market.
Oregon’s nonfarm payroll employment grew by 900 jobs in August, following a revised gain of 3,400 jobs in July.

Those jobs were in construction, which added 800 jobs, and trade, which added 800 jobs in wholesale trade and 700 jobs in retail trade.

The leisure and hospitality industries lost 1,100 jobs and government lost 600 jobs.

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PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon says its unemployment rate for July was the lowest in 42 years of keeping comparable records.

The state reported Tuesday that the July rate was 3.9 percent, a slight dip from June’s rate of 4.0 percent.

That’s the lowest rate since 1976.

The U.S. unemployment rate exactly matched Oregon’s rate in both months.

During the past two years, Oregon’s unemployment rate has been remarkably low and steady.

The rate was either 4.1 percent or 4.2 percent each month stretching from January 2017 to May 2018.
In July, Oregon’s nonfarm payroll employment rose by 5,400 jobs, following a revised over-the-month gain of 6,600 jobs in June.

Monthly job gains were concentrated in retail trade, construction and health care and social assistance.

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The employment situation in Oregon was unremarkable in October, and the construction industry similarly cut jobs along with seasonal expectations.

The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped just 0.1 point to 8.6 percent in October, while nonfarm payroll fell by 2,400 jobs, according to the most recent report from the Oregon State Employment Department. Construction companies also cut back last month by 900 positions, though a loss of 1,400 is typical.

The unemployment rate isn’t very telling considering that it has been between 8.4 percent and 8.9 percent since the beginning of the year. But October’s rate is considerably lower than the 9.3 percent rate from a year ago, and another positive piece of news is that September’s estimated job loss of 7,900 jobs was revised down to a loss of just 800.

But as Josh Lehner, an economist with the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis, , a loss is a loss regardless of the size.

“Job losses are still job losses and it is not good news,” Lehner wrote. “We also know that withholdings out of wages and salaries were weak in September, which is indicative of employment weakness, although both employment and wages are certainly up on a year-ago basis.”

Within the construction industry, the largest loss came once again from specialty trade contractors (down 800 jobs). Residential building was down 600 jobs, and heavy and civil engineering contractors lost 200 jobs. Non-residential building, meanwhile, was up by 1,100 jobs.

Other industries that took a hit in October were leisure and hospitality (down 6,800) and manufacturing (down 2,300); however, several industries such as educational and health services and government added jobs at a level below expected seasonal gains.

Lehner reported that Oregon’s growth rate is in keeping with, if not better than, most other states in the country. Year-over-year gains for withholdings have grown approximately 2 percent to 3 percent in the past few months, while many states are seeing zero to 1 percent growth.

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Oregon’s construction industry saw minimal job growth in June as the state’s overall unemployment rate remained essentially unchanged.

Oregon’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in June rose 0.1 point over May to 8.5 percent, according to the most recent employment report released today by the Oregon Employment Department. That’s down from a rate of 9.6 percent a year ago.

Overall, seasonally adjusted total nonfarm payroll employment grew by 1,700 jobs with the trade, transportation and utilities industry (up 1,700), and the manufacturing industry (up 900) leading the charge. According to the employment department, June was the fourth consecutive month that seasonally adjusted payroll employment has grown, meaning more jobs were added than economists expected.

The construction industry, by contrast, added 2,700 jobs, which was the anticipated seasonal movement for the industry and so was not statistically significant.

The employment department also upwardly revised May’s figures to show a gain of 7,600 jobs, and since March, the state has added 13,600 jobs. In June, 172,489 people remained unemployed in Oregon.

Meanwhile, a concurrent June survey by the National Association of Home Builders shed light on the construction market. Steve Melman, director of economic services for the NAHB, said 41 percent of builders plan to hire more skilled workers in the next 12 months, while 59 percent do not.

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The block between North Fremont and Cook streets, between Vancouver and Williams avenues, resembles a forest more than anything else. The vegetation isn’t just a layer of grass or a few small plants ? whole trees have grown up inside the space, speaking to years of disuse. Some residents have taken to calling it the “Fremont Forest.”

The part of the block that’s not taken over by vegetation is an empty, debris-strewn parking lot, and the only functioning structure is a bleak-looking shop that sells Hostess products such as Twinkies and Ho Hos.

A mere block away, North Williams Avenue is developing nicely. Several popular businesses such as and have turned the area into a chic district not unlike the nearby North Mississippi. Why is there desolation right next to so much development? Blame poor Twinkie sales and bad timing.

Until 2005, the space was home to a Wonder Bread bakery, hence the Hostess store. (the folks who brought us Wonder Bread) filed for bankruptcy in 2004. No one single factor caused one of the most recognized brands in America to suddenly implode, but a few very bad things happened to Interstate all at the same time.

The then-popular Atkins diet dealt a blow to Interstate and everyone else who was in the business of selling carbs. Bread suddenly didn’t look so wonderful to many consumers. At around the same time Interstate also introduced . This gave well-worn brands like Wonder Bread an unwelcome New Coke-esque taste. (It has since re-emerged as Hostess Brands ? and take comfort in knowing that Twinkies never actually went off the market.)

The bankruptcy was cause for some liquidation, cost-cutting and reorganization nationwide. That included the destruction of its bakery in North Portland. The Portland market in particular had become more difficult for Interstate ? Krispy Kreme had emerged as a local competitor, so those consumers who still wanted carbohydrates and sweets suddenly had other nationally-known options besides Twinkies and Ding Dongs.

The land was sold off to and has been available through since the bakery was demolished. The empty block, more than anything else, is a result of bad timing. Had Interstate Bakeries not gone under just before the economy tanked, there might still be something there.

Last month took advantage of the arboreal block, set up its equipment in the parking lot, and filmed a few scenes amid the overgrown foliage. Other than that, nothing else has really gone on with the block since the Wonderbread bakery was torn down. Neighbors are not particularly happy about it ? as nice as the trees might be to look at, business owners say they want something there.

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Oregon public schools could be eligible for modernization and infrastructure improvement funds if President Obama’s American Jobs Act is approved by Congress.

According to a released today by the White House, Oregon K-12 public schools will be eligible for $253 million of the $25 billion set aside for improving public schools if the bill is passed as presented to Congress. Additionally, community colleges in Oregon would be eligible for $71.2 million.

White House officials estimate that this money could attract or retain as many as 3,300 jobs.

The money for K-12 schools would be allocated to the state once the bill is passed. The state Department of Education would then have until Sept. 30 to obligate those funds or they would be redistributed to other states.

Oregon would be required to direct half the funding to local school districts on a formula basis, and the other half through an application process in the most high-need districts, with a priority for rural districts.

The money for community colleges could only be used for repair, renovation or modernization of facilities used primarily for instruction and research.

Additionally, $10 billion of the $25 billion would be directed straight to the 100 largest high-need public school districts. No school districts in Oregon or Washington made that list.

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President Barack Obama on Thursday night asked Congress to quickly approve his $477 billion American Jobs Act proposal, which includes $105 billion for infrastructure and construction spending.

Initial reaction from built industry professionals – both locally and nationally – is that any increase in federal spending on infrastructure and other construction projects is sorely needed and much appreciated. But as with Obama’s $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009, industry professionals say they think any positive effects will most likely be short lived.

“Any effort is appreciated as we can all agree that we need more jobs,” said John Killin, president of the Oregon chapter of the Associated Builders and Contractors. “But as an organization we bought into the stimulus package, which this looks an awful lot like. As soon as the stimulus money dried up, our unemployment rate in Oregon rose again.”

A large portion of Obama’s plan focuses on the extension of unemployment benefits and tax breaks for small businesses. The rest focuses on short-term spending to modernize schools, fund federal infrastructure projects, and rehabilitate and repurpose vacant space in neighborhoods across the country.

While Killin likes the intent of the effort – getting people back to work – he doesn’t agree that the package offers a real solution to that problem.

“These tweaks and holidays don’t work,” he said. “We need to roll back these barriers to doing business and remove the regulations that are hurting the people that create jobs.”

U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., a senior member of the House Budget and Ways and Means committees, voiced similar concerns in a statement he released following the president’s speech. But Blumenauer said he wants to keep an open mind until he is able to examine the plan in greater detail.

“I don’t believe that tax cuts will create as many jobs as investing in infrastructure, but I look forward to reading the president’s plan and to (learning) more details,” Blumenauer said in his statement. “We must guard against people just taking the easy political step of cutting taxes and not the heavy lifting of tax reform and funding our failing infrastructure.”

Others had fewer reservations, if any.

John Mohlis, executive secretary-treasurer with the Columbia Pacific Building Trades Council, said he considers any proposal that pays for infrastructure and puts people back to work to be a good thing in the current economy.

Tom Chamberlain, president of Oregon AFL-CIO, agreed. He believes the plan could really benefit Oregon.

“I saw a lot of good stuff, especially the transportation stuff,” Chamberlain said. “Hopefully there’s some money in there for the (Columbia River Crossing) project. That would have a direct positive impact not only on Oregon construction workers but our entire unemployment rate and the economy in general.”

The American Institute of Architects also voiced strong support for the president’s plan, especially the money dedicated to construction spending. The organization estimates that every $1 billion invested in nonresidential design and construction results in 28,500 full-time jobs. By that calculation, Obama’s plan could result in nearly 3 million jobs.

But while the AIA supports the spending in the plan, the organization is also calling for at least one more addition – the continuation of the Build America Bonds program.

“In the two short years that the program was authorized, state and local governments used Build America Bonds to finance roughly $180 billion (of) new construction projects, preserving tens of thousands of jobs,” AIA President Clark Manus said. “We estimate that at least $45 billion of that amount was used in the construction sector to finance schools, offices, hospitals and other building projects that improve communities.”

The U.S. Green Building Council took a similar stance. Rick Fedrizzi, president and CEO of the U.S. Green Building Council, offered the organization’s full support of the proposal and its passage. But he also mentioned several energy-efficient tax incentives that could be included to create more jobs.

“Specifically in commercial building, we know fixing the tax incentive for energy-efficient commercial buildings, Section 179D, could create 77,000 additional jobs in energy efficiency,” he said in a statement about the plan. “I hope Congress will strongly consider this commonsense tax fix.”

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Construction employment continues to edge up slightly in Oregon, even as employment as a whole in the state stays in a holding pattern.

Out of the 800 jobs added throughout the month of June in Oregon, 200 of them were in the construction field, according to . The move is a positive development after the month of May, when the construction industry in Oregon lost 1,000 jobs.

Since the end of June in 2010, construction employment has increased by 2.4 percent – 1,600 jobs – and is outpacing overall state employment, which has increased by only 1.3 percent over that same time period.

Manufacturing employment, which is usually a good indicator of future demand for commercial space, did not fare as well as the construction industry in June. Manufacturing employment lost 2,000 jobs in June, a 1.2 percent loss from the month previous. Year-over-year, manufacturing employment has increased by a total of 2,500 jobs, a 1.5 percent increase.

All statistics are seasonally adjusted.

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Both Oregon and the Portland-metropolitan area showed increases in employment through April, while the nation as a whole took a step back.

Oregon’s unemployment rate dropped to a seasonally adjusted 9.6 percent at the end of April, down from 9.9 percent in March, while the national unemployment rate increased from 8.8 percent to 9 percent over the same time period, according to statistics released by Work Source Oregon. The Portland area also saw a decrease, falling from 9.3 percent to 8.9 percent over the month of April.

This marks only the second month since January of 2009 that the unemployment rate has been below 10 percent, and only the third time the Portland area has dipped below that threshold.

Across the state, construction employment increased by 0.6 percent, a total of 400 jobs, over the last month, and 1.9 percent, or 1,300 jobs, since April of 2010. Manufacturing employment has seen a 3 percent increase since April 2010, adding 5,000 jobs, and increased 0.7 percent over the last month, adding 1,200 jobs.

All of these are positive developments from a state, and metropolitan area, that has consistently trailed the national average in unemployment since the beginning of 2009.

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