May 2019 Oregon Regional Economic Indicators

Good morning. Below is the University of Oregon Regional Economic Indexes for May 2019. The release date is July 25, 2019. We thank KeyBank for their generous support of this project.

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Oregon Regional Economic Indicators:

Regional economies gained some momentum in May on the back of generally solid employment measures. Highlights of this month’s report include:

• For all regions covered by this report, raw and moving average measures (which smooth monthly volatility) were above zero, indicating an above-trend pace of activity (trend activity differs across regions).
• Residential sales of housing generally made positive contributions across all areas. While home sales have firmed in recent months, housing price growth has slowed in the Portland area enough to cause that component to make a small negative contribution.
• Labor force growth has slowed in most areas but made a positive contribution to the Rogue Valley measure; generally softer labor force growth, if sustained, will leave firms scrambling to attract and keep employees.
• Low levels of initial claims supports a positive contribution and indicates that the number of jobs will continue to grow in the metro areas. Municipal waste measures have picked up as regional economic growth strengthened relative to earlier in the year.Media Contacts:
  Tim Duy – 541.346.4660 (w)