The Portland metro area lost 7,500 jobs in May, raising the unemployment rate to 4.5%.
PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland metro area employment picture is looking a little shaky, even ahead of a new round of expected Intel layoffs and without factoring in recent job cuts at two grid battery companies.
The area lost about 7,500 jobs in May and employment is down about 14,000 in the past year, according to a new report from the Oregon Employment Department.
With the job losses, the number of unemployed people in the metro area is up about 11,000 since May 2024, pushing the unemployment rate from 3.9% to 4.5%.
The Portland metropolitan statistical area is defined as Clackamas, Columbia, Multnomah, Washington and Yamhill counties in Oregon, and Clark and Skamania counties in Washington state.
Statewide, the unemployment rate was 4.8% in May, up from 4.7% in April and 4.1% in May 2024. The U.S. rate was 4.2% in both months. Oregon’s unemployment rate is up 1.2 percentage points since hitting a recent low of 3.6% from March through June 2023.
Amid the rising unemployment rate, Central Oregon has been the leader in job growth among six regions of the state delineated by the Employment Department, with a 1.4% gain. The Willamatte Valley was close behind with 1.1% growth. Southern Oregon and Eastern Oregon each saw 0.2% gains. The Coast, though, was down 0.4% and the Portland metro area’s five Oregon counties were together off 0.6%.