Derek Stallings stopped in to Fields Station for a quick beer with friends when he noticed that one of the lights in the cafe was hanging from the ceiling. “I can fix that up real quick,” said the electrician from Bend.
Amanda Peacher / OPB
The state's latest economic report for Central Oregon shows that Jefferson, Crook and Deschutes counties continue to see job growth.
Deschutes County set a record for the number of non-farm jobs, with 74,380 jobs in June.
"We crushed our previous all-time record number for any given month in Deschutes County," said Damon Runberg, the state's regional economist for Central Oregon. "Not only have we recovered from the recession on a seasonally adjusted basis, but we've also recovered from the recession just from the raw number of jobs in any given months."
But Deschutes also had a slight uptick in unemployment levels, up to 6.2 percent in June from 5.9 percent in May. That's in part because of recent college graduates who are now looking for work, according to Runberg.
"The labor market is so strong, and there are so many job opportunities and people want to live in Bend," he said. "And so there's rapid population growth right now, and that's really creating a surge in the labor force."
Runberg said he's also impressed with dropping unemployment and job gains in Jefferson County. For the past year, Jefferson County has added jobs at a faster pace than most other Oregon counties.
"Rural communities in Oregon would be completely envious of having their labor force growing right now," said Runberg.