Oregon Jobs and Labor Force – April 2025 Update

April Job Gains Accompanied by Major Quarterly Revisions to 2024 Data

Oregon added 1,200 nonfarm payroll jobs in April 2025, according to seasonally adjusted estimates. However, this month’s release included a routine quarterly revision based on newly available employer tax records, which significantly altered the trend. Job estimates for October, November, and December 2024 were revised downward by a combined nearly 38,000 jobs, while January and February 2025 were revised up by more than 32,000. The net result was a reduction of roughly 8,000 jobs across the July 2024 to February 2025 period.

Meanwhile, the state’s labor force participation rate remained unchanged at 62.7%, still 1.6 percentage points above its pre-pandemic level, indicating continued strong labor force engagement. Oregon’s unemployment rate rose to 4.7% in April, extending a gradual upward trend observed over the past year.

Job gains in April were concentrated in just three supersectors—Leisure and Hospitality, Professional and Business Services, and Education and Health Services—while most other sectors either lost jobs or held steady. Notably, the largest losses came from Transportation, Warehousing, and Utilities, and Government, which helped offset private sector growth.

Key Highlights—Oregon April 2025 Employment Data 

• Oregon’s seasonally adjusted total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 1,200 jobs in April.
• Nearly all of the gains came from the Private sector, which added about 1,600 jobs, led by strong growth in the Leisure and Hospitality sector. In contrast, Government employment declined by 400 jobs.
• Manufacturing and Mining and Logging held steady in April, while Construction shed approximately 200 jobs.
• Only 3 out of Oregon’s 11 major industry supersectors added jobs in April: Leisure and Hospitality, Education and Health Services, and Professional and Business Services. The remaining supersectors either lost jobs or saw no change.
• The largest job losses occurred in the Trade, Transportation, and Utilities supersector, which shed approximately 1,600 jobs in April.
• The Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey indicates that Oregon has yet to fully return to its pre-pandemic employment-to-population ratio.
• However, estimates from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program that Oregon’s total employment surpassed pre-pandemic levels as early as September 2021 and has remained above that benchmark.
• Industry-Level Dynamics

April’s modest overall employment growth masks significant variation across industries:

•  Leisure and Hospitality led all industries, adding more than 3,200 jobs—driven primarily by gains in Accommodation and Food Services, which contributed over 2,800 jobs.
• Professional and Business Services added 900 jobs, with the bulk of growth coming from Administrative and Support Services.
• Apart from Leisure and Hospitality and Professional and Business Services, the only other supersector to add jobs was Education and Health Services, which posted a modest gain of 100 jobs. Within this category, the Education sector lost about 300 jobs, while Health Care and Social Assistance added roughly 400.
• Mining and Logging and Manufacturing employment held steady in April, showing no change from March levels.
• The Construction sector shed approximately 200 jobs.
• The largest job losses occurred in the Trade, Transportation, and Utilities sector, which saw a decline of 1,600 jobs. Most of this drop came from Transportation, Warehousing, and Utilities, down by over 1,200 jobs, along with a loss of about 400 jobs in Wholesale Trade.
• The  Information sector continued to decline, shedding 300 jobs in April. Losses over the past two months have effectively erased the gains made in February.
• Financial Activities employment held steady overall, as job gains in Financial and Insurance were offset by losses in Real Estate and Rental and Leasing.
•  Government employment continued its downward trend, declining by about 400 jobs—driven primarily by a 300-job loss at the local government level.

Since the Onset of the Pandemic:

• Total nonfarm employment in Oregon is up 43,700 jobs since January 2020.

• However, five of eleven supersectors remain below pre-pandemic levels: Mining and Logging, Manufacturing, Trade, Transportation and Utilities, Financial Activities, Leisure and Hospitality.

Notable shifts:

• Employment in Manufacturing and in Mining and Logging remains well below pre-pandemic levels—down 7.4% and 7.5%, respectively, compared to January 2020.
• In contrast, Education and Health services employment has grown by 11.1%, driven largely by gains in Health Care and Social Assistance.
• Government employment is also up, rising 6.1% since January 2020.

Oregon Labor Force Update

• Oregon’s labor force participation rate (LFPR) held steady at 62.7% in April. That’s 1.6 percentage points higher than in January 2020, suggesting stronger-than-expected engagement in the workforce since the pandemic.
•  The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.7%, continuing a gradual rise that may signal easing labor market tightness.

Technical Notes and Data Sources

All data are seasonally adjusted unless otherwise noted. Employment estimates derive from the Oregon Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey and are benchmarked to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data through February 2025. Labor force estimates come from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program.April 2025 CES and LAUS estimates are extrapolated using monthly growth rates from the Oregon Employment Department’s April release.