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Oregon' August 2012 unemployment rate went up once more to 8.9%. The rate was up 0.2% and was the now 4th consecutive month with an increase.. Furthermore, the 8.9% rate is now the highest rate in Oregon for 2012 (0.1% over the January rate of 8.8%).

For the month of August there were an around 175,700 people unemployed in the state. This is an increase of roughly 3,000 individuals over the prior month. Additionally,there was also a fall of roughly 9,000 workers from the number of employed in Oregon. This, coupled with a drop of almost 6,000 in the total workforce in the state led to the 0.2% rise in the unemployment rate. When compared to national average, Oregon's unemployment rate is now significantly (0.8%) higher that the national average of 8.1%. Additionally, while the nationwide rate has been mainly moving downward (albeit gradually), the rate in Oregon is on the rise of late.

Looking back on the past year, the current 8.9% rate is still lower than the August 2011 unemployment rate of 9.5%. During the past year, the number of unemployed workers has gone down by around 14,000. Also, the number of employed workers has increase by roughly 1,000. A big change, however, from a year ago is that there are roughly 15,000 fewer workers in Oregon's overall workforce. These individuals have probably either left the state or have quit actively looking for work.

Several of the other states in the area also published higher unemployment rates in August. The State of Washington's rate increased by 0.1% in August to 8.6%. The State of Nevada's rate also increased by 0.1% to 12.1% (remaining one of the highest rates in the nation. The state of Wyoming also went up in August (by 0.1%) to 5.7%. However, several regional states did see decreases in August 2012. Both the States of California (down 0.1% to 10.6%) and Idaho (down 0.1% to 7.4%) were lower in August.

Many of Oregon's industries saw good results during the month (even thought the state's rate was higher). Businesses with positive numbers in August were Construction, Manufacturing, Education & Health Service, Trade Transportation & Utilities, Information, Financial Activities, Professional & Business Services, and Leisure & Hospitality. The only major business sector showing a decrease in August was Government while Mining and Logging was static for the month. Trade Transportation& Utilities continued to have the largest employment numbers in August, followed by Government.

Please check back in a few weeks when the September employment statistics will be posted for Oregon. We'll review the state's results and see how it measures up to other states in the region. Remember that previously released employment statistics can modified at a later date.