Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Oregon Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for Portland fell 0.3 percentage points in December 2011 to 8.5%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 0.4 percentage points lower than the Oregon rate. The unemployment rate in Portland peaked in June 2009 at 11.2% and is now 2.7 percentage points lower. You can also compare Portland unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate	December 2011	Month/Month	Year/Year
National	8.5%	-0.2	-0.9
Oregon	8.9%	-0.2	-1.7
Portland	8.5%	-0.3	-1.8

Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.¹ All comparisons are made with December 2011 data as January metro level unemployment data has not yet been released.

Unemployment Rate: Portland, Oregon, National

Note: Recessions shown in gray.

Portland, Oregon Unemployed

The number of people unemployed in Portland peaked in June 2009 at 133,035. There are now 31,327 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. Portland employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in Portland, Oregon) is also available.

Unemployed Persons	December 2011	Month/Month	Year/Year
Portland	101,708	-3,799	-21,443

Number of Unemployed Persons

Portland, Oregon Unemployment History

Date	National Unemployment Rate	Oregon Unemployment Rate	Portland Unemployment Rate	Portland Unemployed
January 2012	8.3%	—	—	—
December 2011	8.5%	8.9%	8.5%	101,708
November 2011	8.7%	9.1%	8.8%	105,507
October 2011	8.9%	9.5%	9.2%	109,832
September 2011	9.0%	9.6%	9.2%	110,079
August 2011	9.1%	9.6%	9.2%	109,877
July 2011	9.1%	9.5%	9.2%	109,650
June 2011	9.1%	9.4%	9.2%	109,555
May 2011	9.0%	9.3%	9.0%	108,044
April 2011	9.0%	9.5%	9.2%	109,643
March 2011	8.9%	9.9%	9.4%	112,712
February 2011	9.0%	10.2%	9.8%	116,645
January 2011	9.1%	10.4%	10.1%	120,179