CERF Blog

In a newsletter about three months ago, I acknowledged some improving economic conditions in Oregon, but counseled that it was no time to become complacent. That turns out to have been right on. Since then, seasonally adjusted job growth has dramatically slowed, and seasonally adjusted unemployment has increased. When Oregon had some good job numbers,… Read more

A lot of state governments are in trouble, afflicted as they are with high expenses and weak revenues. They need to be thinking clearly if they are to have any hope of solving their problems. Unfortunately, lots of fuzzy thinking occurs when it comes to taxes. The biggest problem is that many people think that… Read more

Last year, Oregon citizens approved large increases on business and consumer income.  Now their problem is worse.  The Oregon Business Report has a piece today by Patrick Emerson: The Office of Economic Analysis blog has a nice picture that does a good job describing the torpedo the good ship Oregon took to her hull. This… Read more

Oregon April non-farm jobs increased 3,900 over March. The April labor market update was posted by the Oregon Employment Department on Tuesday. This is the largest month-on-month increase since October 2007. Using the 3,900 jobs to calculate an annualized growth rate yields 3.0 percent, see the chart below. The 3,900 jobs gained comprised of 2,800… Read more

Today’s Oregon jobs report for December shows mixed results in the State’s job market.  The OES’s Labor Market Information System provided the December estimates for the state this morning and will provide them for Oregon’s counties on Friday morning.  The State’s Year-over-year job losses are improving a bit, from a loss of about five percent… Read more

By my count, and I could be wrong, 36 Oregon economist signed a letter supporting the Legislature’s tax increases in response to the State’s budget problem. These are the key paragraphs: “ Cutting state spending reduces in-state aggregate demand, virtually dollar-for-dollar. Some forms of state spending, particularly in the area of health care, bring matching… Read more

Joel Kotkin forwarded this article in the Oregon Environmental News.  Seems that baby boomers will retire to rural communities in big numbers, for maybe 15 years. This is likely to be particularly important in Central Oregon, and it is a mixed blessing. The baby boomer’s impact on Central Oregon’s economy will persist long after the… Read more