Oregon’s job market saw a boost in September, according to the latest report from the Oregon Employment Department. The state added 5,800 jobs last month, along with a revised gain of 2,600 jobs in August.
Health care jobs continued a long-term growth trend, adding 1,700 jobs after seasonal adjustments. But the lone sector to add more jobs than health care is one that appears to be pulling up after years in decline.
Oregon’s construction had its strongest month since the spring. The sector traditionally loses 1,800 jobs in September. Instead, it added 200 jobs, making for a seasonally adjusted gain of 2,000 jobs.
The uptick may have more to do with a more literal use of the term seasonal trends.
“When it comes to these monthly changes, if we get really nice weather stretching further into the fall, sometimes that can affect activity going further into the fall than we’d expect," said Oregon Employment Economist Gail Krumenauer.
Job growth was strongest in the “Construction of Buildings” subsector, which has added 900 jobs in the past year. That sector employs those who build commercial and residential buildings but are not a part of a specialty trade.
While the monthly numbers go against what is normal, they also follow a longer-term trend that began in February.
The construction sector reached its recent peak in June 2023 and hit its recent low in March.
Since then, the industry has added 3,600 jobs
Growth in Oregon construction jobs isn’t just about a mild fall.
The sector has grown by about 3% since July, when it reached its lowest jobs level since the Great Recession.
Construction is not the only sector that has seen recent growth after years of decline. Manufacturing has a similar trend.
“We’ve really seen manufacturing level out and manage to get a couple of months of gains, and that’s really helped with buoying private sector job growth over the past couple of months,” Krumenauer said.
Manufacturing began declining in November 2022 at 195,000 jobs. It hit its recent trough in July with 171,400 jobs, and has since grown to 173,100 jobs.
