Unemployment inches up in Union, Wallowa counties

Unemployment climbed upward in Union and Wallowa counties in December, hovering above the jobless percentages for both Oregon and the nation.

According to a report from Jason Yohannan, a regional economist with the Oregon Employment Department, Union County had an estimated 7.2 percent unemployment rate for the month.

That represented a 1.1 percent jump over November’s 6.1 percent. In December 2006, the county’s unemployment rate was 5.9 percent.

An estimated 11,422 people had nonfarm payroll jobs in December 2007, while 884 were out of work.

In all, Union County shed 130 nonfarm payroll jobs in December. Construction, manufacturing, and trade, transportation and utilities were hard-hit sectors, each shedding 30 jobs.

Forty government jobs, 20 each in the state and federal sectors, went away as well.

Wallowa County saw an 8 percent jobless rate in December, up from November’s 6.1 percent. In December 2006, the county’s unemployment rate was 7.4 percent.

Total non-farm employment was down 60 jobs from November. Losses included 30 jobs in the private sector, and 30 in the government sector.

Wallowa County labor force estimates showed 3,296 people employed and 285 unemployed.

Elsewhere in Eastern Oregon, Baker County’s jobless rate was 6.9 percent, Grant’s 9.7 percent, Harney’s 9.6 percent and Malheur’s 6.7 percent.

Across the state in November, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 5.6 percent. In the United States it was 5 percent.

Oregon’s employment and unemployment statistics undergo comprehensive revision between publication of December data for one year and January data for the next year.

The revisions incorporate more information than was previously available when the monthly estimates were developed.

For now, initial estimates say that non-farm employment grew moderately in 2007 in Oregon and the United States, and in most of the Eastern Oregon region.

Union, Baker, Wallowa and Malheur counties posted some growth, while Harney County stayed basically the same and Grant County endured a down year.

Yohannan said the department’s analysis of state and local statistics compares the calendar-year average job count for 2007 against that of 2006.

He said initial analysis of month-to-month trends show that the second half of 2007 wasn’t as nearly as positive as the first half.

 “Eastern Oregon’s 2007 annual average jobless rates may be marginally better than 2006, but the favorable comparisons disappeared out here, too, as the year ended,” he said.