Jobless Rate Jumps to 12.4%

Oregon’s unemployment rate jumped to 12.4% in May — the highest on record since the state started keeping comparable data in 1976 — from 11.8% in April, according to the Oregon Employment Department.

The May reading topped the previous record high of 12.1%, reached in November 1982, and the rate is more than double the 5.7% rate a year earlier. It is also above the national 9.4% jobless rate for May.

While the jobless rate continued to rise in May, there were some signs of stabilization in the report. Oregon businesses cut just 100 jobs last month. That was the smallest job loss for the state since last July, when the state added 5,400 jobs. From August 2008 through April, the state lost about 10,300 jobs a month.

“In May, most of the major industries followed their normal seasonal patterns,” the Employment Department said in a release. “This was in contrast with the prior eight months, when many industries cut employment sharply below normal seasonal expectations.”

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