No Jobs? No Problem! Rising Unemployment Didn't Stop Influx to Portland

Just in time for the holidays, Oregon Employment Department analyst Christian Kaylor has released his monthly update on the state of the Portland labor market.

As usual, the news ain't pretty. Also true to form, Kaylor pulls out a new set of stats that sheds an interesting light on our city's job market.

This month's one-page report (PDF) starts with a meat-and-potatoes update on unemployment in the Portland metro area versus the national rate.



Then Kaylor provides two of his monthly twists—which seem to spring up randomly and aren't necessarily tied to any pressing news events.

First, as a further sign of long-term change in the Portland labor market, check out this graph showing manufacturing jobs versus health-care employment.



Also we're treated to this nugget—a comparison of population growth in the metro area versus employment growth. The results will come as little surprise to longtime residents.

Despite suffering a net job loss in 2009 and 2010, the metro area experienced continued population growth—although that growth began to slow compared to previous years.

Who needs jobs? We've got food carts! Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.