Central Oregon Economic Indicators—November 2024

Economy in Central Oregon

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

November in View:

The nation’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate marginally increased from 4.1% in October to 4.2% in November, and at the statewide level, the unemployment rate also increased by 0.1% from 4.0% to 4.1%.

In Deschutes County, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased from 3.8% in November 2023 to 4.0% in November 2024. Crook County decreased from 5.9% to 5.5%, and Jefferson County remained steady at 4.7%.

Topic of the Month: Fastest Growing Occupations by Projected Percentage Change, 2023-2033

The Oregon Employment Department (OED) recently released the industry and occupational employment projections for 2023-2033. The data includes occupational titles, 2023 employment, 2033 projected employment, the percent change, the total change, replacement openings, and total openings. It also includes both the typical entry-level education and what education one would need to be considered competitive.

Over the next 10 years, OED expects nurse practitioner employment in Central Oregon (Crook, Deschutes, and Jefferson counties) to increase 55.5%. This leads all occupations in Central Oregon by 12.3%; the next closest occupation is physical therapist assistants with a projected growth of 43.2%. Nurse practitioner employment is expected to gain 81 jobs and to have 80 replacement openings for a total of 161 openings. While these percentages of the top 10 fastest-growing occupations are large, there is relatively small employment in these occupations, meaning that a moderate gain in employment would be large on a percentage basis. The occupation with the largest projected employment change in the next 10 years is fast food and counter workers, which is expected to add 400 jobs (10%) and have 9,714 replacement openings.