SALEM- Oregon’s unemployment rate stayed unchanged in April, according to numbers released Tuesday by the Oregon Department of Employment. The state’s political leaders have begun to debate whether the news indicates a nearing end to the recession.
Governor Ted Kulongoski called the report “a welcome turn in the right direction” but stressed the need to “remain focused on fostering economic growth and opportunities in the private sector to help continue this direction of job creation.”
Lake Oswego’s Senator Richard Devlin, the Majority Leader for the State Senate, also spoke of the positive news.
“Nearly 4,000 more Oregonians will be earning paychecks this month, making this the largest gain in two and a half years,” said the Senator. “This is sold evidence that things are getting better. On top of this, the construction industry, which has been especially hard hit, experienced its first seasonally adjusted gain since early 2007.”
Senate Minority Leader, Ted Ferrioli, R-John Day, issued an immediate response calling the declaration of success premature.
“Half of the ‘new jobs’ the Majority Leaders brags on aren’t long-term family wage jobs at all, but temporarily hiring of census workers,” Ferrioli said.
“While it is true the construction industry added 1,300 jobs, Oregon needs an additional 41,000 jobs in the construction sector just to return to pre-recession levels.”
Tuesday’s report from the Oregon Department of Employment put the unemployment rate at 10.6% for April, which is the same rate as that in March. This is 0.7% above the national unemployment rate.
According to the Employment Department, Oregon’s unemployment rate has been “essentially unchanged for the most recent six months.”
