Central Oregon Economic Indicators—June 2024

Economy in Central Oregon

By Andrew Grimoldby | Workforce Analyst/Economist, East Cascades Oregon Employment Department

June in View:

The nation’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased slightly from 4.0% in May to 4.1% in June, and at the statewide level, the unemployment rate declined from 4.2% in May to 4.1% in June.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rates in the counties of Central Oregon have all declined since May. Crook County decreased from 6.3% to 6.1%, Deschutes decreased from 4.1% to 4.0%, and Jefferson decreased from 4.7% to 4.6%.

Topic of the Month: The Highest and Lowest Paid Occupation Groups by Median Wage in Central Oregon

The Oregon Employment Department has recently released their 2024 Oregon Wage Information. This data includes the employment for a specific occupation in 2023, different percentiles of wages for the occupation, and the mean wage. I will focus on the median (50th percentile) for this section.

The top five groups by hourly median wage are as follows: healthcare practitioners and technical occupations ($51.62), computer and mathematical occupations ($42.88), management occupations ($41.54), architecture and engineering occupations ($39.17), and legal occupations ($36.58). In last year’s data, the same occupation groups occupied the top five.

The lowest five groups by hourly median wage are as follows: food preparation and serving related occupations ($16.42), building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations ($18.26), personal care and service occupations ($18.33), sales and related occupations ($18.87), and healthcare support occupations ($21.55). This year, healthcare support occupations are the fifth lowest paid group, last year it was sixth, and it replaces transportation and material moving occupations. Besides that change, the other four occupations within the lowest five remain the same.