Oregon Unemployment Rate and Nonfarm Payroll Employment January 2026

Oregon’s Unemployment Rate Was 5.2% in January Oregon’s unemployment rate was 5.2% in January and 5.3%, as revised, in December. The U.S.

unemployment rate was 4.3% in January and 4.4% in December.

In January, Oregon’s seasonally adjusted nonfarm payroll employment rose by 2,000 jobs,

following a gain of 100 jobs, as revised, in December. January’s gains were largest in leisure and hospitality (+1,800 jobs); health care and social assistance (+1,500); and construction (+1,000). Losses were largest in manufacturing (-1,500 jobs) and professional and business services (-1,300).

Leisure and hospitality performed better than the normal seasonal pattern in January and

employed 209,800, which was 1,800 jobs, or 0.9%, above its January 2025 total. Despite these recent gains, it employed only slightly more workers than during most of the past few years.

Health care and social assistance rose by 4,100 jobs during the three months ending in

January. During the 12 months ending in January, it added 9,800 jobs, or 3.2%, which was by far the fastest growth rate of Oregon’s major industries during that time.

Construction’s 1,000-job gain in January was a partial rebound from its 2,400-job loss the prior

month. Over the past two years, construction generally declined from a high of about 118,000 jobs throughout much of 2023, to its January 2026 level of 111,600 jobs.

Manufacturing cut 1,500 jobs in January, following a gain of 1,300 in December. Since August,

manufacturing has fluctuated around 178,000 jobs. Prior to this period of relative stability, manufacturing shrank rapidly from a recent high of 195,000 jobs in November 2022.

The 1,300-job decline in professional and business services in January left the industry 7,600

jobs, or 2.9%, below its year-ago total, and 17,000 jobs below its peak of 268,100 jobs in 2023.

Next Press Releases

The Oregon Employment Department plans to release the January county and metropolitan area unemployment and jobs data on Tuesday, April 7, and the next statewide unemployment rate and employment survey data for February on Wednesday, April 15. Gail Krumenauer, State Employment Economist (971) 301-3771 NEWS Video and Audio available at 10 a.m. PT David Cooke, Economist (971) 375-5288 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 1, 2026 CONTACT INFORMATION: Employment Department News Release Page 2 April 1, 2026

Oregon Seasonally Adjusted Employment

350,000 Government, including Health care and public education social assistance 300,000

250,000 Professional and business services Leisure and hospitality 200,000

150,000 Oregon Unemployment Rate, Oregon Nonfarm Payroll Employment, Seasonally Adjusted Seasonally Adjusted

2.114.0 13.0100,000 12.02.0 11.0 10.01.99.0 50,0008.01.8 Information7.0 6.0 Educational services 1.75.0Seasonally Normal Transportation, Seasonal Expectations and Unadjusted 4.0Seasonal Adjusted INDUSTRY Total nonfarm payroll warehousing, and Professional and Private educational Health care and social Leisure and Over-the-Month Employment Changes Change 3.01.6 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026Movement Change -2,900 -3,300 -1,900 -2,400 1,000 -26,700 -27,600 -24,100 -1,900 -5,600 -5,300 -1,400 -4,200 -2,900 -3,400 -1,500 -5,600 -6,600 -1,300 -2,400 -3,500 2,000 2,600 1,500 1,800 employment Total private Mining and logging Construction Manufacturing Wholesale trade Retail trade utilities Information Financial activities business services services assistance hospitality Other services Government December 2025 to January 2026 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 20262017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026-29,600 Construction Mining and logging Trade, transportation, and utilities Financial activities Manufacturing Other servicesPercentMillions

Employment Department News Release Page 3 April 1, 2026 Notes: All numbers in the above narrative are seasonally adjusted. The Oregon Employment Department and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) work cooperatively to develop and publish monthly Oregon payroll employment and labor force data. The estimates of monthly job gains and losses are based on a survey of businesses. The estimates of unemployment are based on a survey of households and other sources. This press release incorporates, for the first time, the annual revisions to the data for 2025 and prior years.

The PDF version of the news release can be found at QualityInfo.org/press-release. To

obtain the data in other formats such as in Excel, visit QualityInfo.org, select Tools, then choose LAUS or CES under the Economy header. To request the press release as a Word document, contact the person shown at the top of this press release. To file a claim for unemployment benefits or get more information about unemployment programs, visit unemployment.oregon.gov. The Oregon Employment Department (OED) is an equal opportunity agency. OED provides free help so you can use our services. Some examples are sign language and spoken- language interpreters, written materials in other languages, large print, audio, and other formats. To get help, please call 503-947-1444. TTY users call 711. You can also send an email to communications@employ.oregon.gov. El Departamento de Empleo de Oregon (OED) es una agencia de igualdad de oportunidades. El OED proporciona ayuda gratuita para que usted pueda utilizar nuestros servicios. Algunos ejemplos son intérpretes de lengua de señas e idiomas hablados, materiales escritos en otros idiomas, letra grande, audio y otros formatos. Para obtener ayuda, por favor llame al 503-947-1444. Usuarios de TTY pueden llamar al 711. También puede enviar un correo electrónico a communications@employ.oregon.gov.

Workforce and Economic Research 2025 Benchmark April 1, 2026

Oregon Current Labor Force and Industry Employment

January December January Change From Change From 2026 2025 2025 December 2025 January 2025 Labor Force Status Civilian labor force 2,186,942 2,204,520 2,201,585 -17,578 -14,643 Unemployed 128,875 111,721 120,155 17,154 8,720 Unemployment rate 5.9 5.1 5.5 0.8 0.4 Unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted 5.2 5.3 4.8 -0.1 0.4 Employed 2,058,067 2,092,799 2,081,430 -34,732 -23,363 Other Labor Force Indicators Labor force participation rate, seasonally adjusted 62.9 63.0 62.8 -0.1 0.1 Labor underutilization rate – U-6, seasonally adjusted 9.0 9.1 8.7 -0.1 0.3 Nonfarm Payroll Employment Total nonfarm payroll employment 1,950,900 1,978,500 1,971,400 -27,600 -20,500 Total private 1,634,500 1,658,600 1,652,300 -24,100 -17,800 Mining and logging 5,700 6,000 5,800 -300 -100 Logging 3,900 4,100 3,900 -200 0 Construction 106,700 108,600 110,600 -1,900 -3,900 Construction of buildings 29,300 29,500 30,400 -200 -1,100 Residential building construction 18,600 18,800 19,300 -200 -700 Nonresidential building construction 10,700 10,700 11,100 0 -400 Heavy and civil engineering construction 11,100 11,300 11,200 -200 -100 Specialty trade contractors 66,300 67,800 69,000 -1,500 -2,700 Building foundation and exterior contractors 11,800 12,000 12,300 -200 -500 Building equipment contractors 33,100 33,200 33,700 -100 -600 Building finishing contractors 12,200 13,200 13,600 -1,000 -1,400 Other specialty trade contractors 9,200 9,400 9,400 -200 -200 Manufacturing 174,700 178,100 179,700 -3,400 -5,000 Durable goods 121,900 123,200 126,500 -1,300 -4,600 Wood product manufacturing 21,500 21,800 22,300 -300 -800 Sawmills and wood preservation 5,800 5,900 5,900 -100 -100 Plywood and engineered wood product mfg. 8,400 8,500 8,600 -100 -200 Other wood product manufacturing 7,300 7,400 7,800 -100 -500 Primary metal manufacturing 7,300 7,400 7,500 -100 -200 Fabricated metal product manufacturing 14,900 15,000 15,300 -100 -400 Machinery manufacturing 13,600 13,700 13,900 -100 -300 Computer and electronic product manufacturing 32,100 32,500 36,200 -400 -4,100 Semiconductor and electronic component mfg. 25,900 26,400 29,600 -500 -3,700 Electronic instrument manufacturing 4,400 4,400 4,500 0 -100 Transportation equipment manufacturing 10,600 10,700 10,500 -100 100 Nondurable goods 52,800 54,900 53,200 -2,100 -400 Food manufacturing 27,600 28,600 27,100 -1,000 500 Trade, transportation, and utilities 350,700 359,400 354,900 -8,700 -4,200 Wholesale trade 73,900 74,600 76,000 -700 -2,100 Retail trade 197,000 202,600 200,400 -5,600 -3,400 Motor vehicle and parts dealers 24,800 25,000 26,000 -200 -1,200 Food and beverage retailers 45,700 46,100 46,500 -400 -800 General merchandise retailers 39,900 41,500 39,900 -1,600 0

January December January Change From Change From 2026 2025 2025 December 2025 January 2025 Transportation, warehousing, and utilities 79,800 82,200 78,500 -2,400 1,300 Utilities 5,200 5,300 5,200 -100 0 Transportation and warehousing 74,600 76,900 73,300 -2,300 1,300 Truck transportation 17,000 17,400 17,700 -400 -700 Couriers and messengers 17,900 19,100 17,400 -1,200 500 Warehousing and storage 18,400 19,200 15,700 -800 2,700 Information 32,600 33,000 35,100 -400 -2,500 Software publishers 12,500 12,700 13,300 -200 -800 Financial activities 98,200 99,000 99,700 -800 -1,500 Finance and insurance 51,500 51,600 52,900 -100 -1,400 Credit intermediation and related activities 20,800 20,800 21,200 0 -400 Insurance carriers and related activities 24,100 24,100 25,000 0 -900 Real estate and rental and leasing 46,700 47,400 46,800 -700 -100 Real estate 41,200 41,600 41,200 -400 0 Professional and business services 246,000 252,600 257,000 -6,600 -11,000 Professional and technical services 107,200 108,100 110,300 -900 -3,100 Architectural and engineering services 18,700 19,200 19,000 -500 -300 Computer systems design and related services 16,400 16,600 17,600 -200 -1,200 Management of companies and enterprises 47,500 48,100 48,600 -600 -1,100 Administrative and waste services 91,300 96,400 98,100 -5,100 -6,800 Employment services 32,700 35,900 38,500 -3,200 -5,800 Private education and health services 353,900 354,200 344,700 -300 9,200 Private educational services 35,700 36,100 36,000 -400 -300 Health care and social assistance 318,200 318,100 308,700 100 9,500 Ambulatory health care services 106,400 106,300 105,400 100 1,000 Hospitals 64,700 65,500 63,300 -800 1,400 Nursing and residential care facilities 61,500 61,400 58,400 100 3,100 Social assistance 85,600 84,900 81,600 700 4,000 Leisure and hospitality 200,700 203,100 198,900 -2,400 1,800 Arts, entertainment, and recreation 26,400 26,100 28,300 300 -1,900 Accommodation and food services 174,300 177,000 170,600 -2,700 3,700 Accommodation 23,200 23,900 22,600 -700 600 Food services and drinking places 151,100 153,100 148,000 -2,000 3,100 Restaurants and other eating places 135,100 136,100 131,500 -1,000 3,600 Other services 65,300 64,600 65,900 700 -600 Repair and maintenance 20,300 20,300 20,400 0 -100 Personal and laundry services 16,000 15,600 15,500 400 500 Membership associations and organizations 29,000 28,700 30,000 300 -1,000 Government 316,400 319,900 319,100 -3,500 -2,700 Federal government 26,100 27,000 28,400 -900 -2,300 State government 49,200 49,300 48,600 -100 600 State education 1,300 1,300 1,300 0 0 Local government 241,100 243,600 242,100 -2,500 -1,000 Indian tribal 9,100 9,000 8,700 100 400 Local education 135,700 137,600 138,700 -1,900 -3,000 Labor-management disputes 0 0 3,500 0 -3,500 The most recent month is preliminary, the prior month is revised. Prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Labor Force Status: Civilian labor force includes employed and unemployed individuals 16 years and older by place of residence. Employed includes nonfarm payroll employment, self-employed, unpaid family workers, domestics, agriculture and labor disputants. Unemployment rate is calculated by dividing unemployed by civilian labor force. U-6 is the total unemployed plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force plus total employed part-time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force. Nonfarm Payroll Employment: Data are by place of work and cover full- and part-time employees who worked or received pay for the pay period that includes the 12th of the month. The data exclude the self-employed, volunteers, unpaid family workers, and domestics. These survey-based estimates are revised quarterly, based on more complete information from employer tax records.