The Oregon Employment Department announced that 6,200 jobs were added in May. It comes on the heels of a six-month stretch averaging 6,000 new jobs per month.
Most of the jobs in May were in leisure and hospitality — 3,200, the state said. That was followed by 1,300 jobs in transportation, warehousing and utilities; 900 jobs in wholesale trade; and 800 in manufacturing.
The only major industry to lose a significant number of jobs was construction, down by 1,100, according to the state.
Oregon’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.6% in May, the state said. That’s down from 3.7% in April and marks the lowest rate in more than two years.
The record low unemployment rate is 3.4%, set between November 2019 and February 2020 — just before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over the past year, leisure and hospitality have made up more than one-third of new jobs in the state. The second-fastest growth rate was in private educational services.
County and city unemployment numbers for May are expected next week.
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