February 2018 Oregon Regional Economic Indicators

Good morning. Below is the University of Oregon Regional Economic Indexes for February 2018.  The release date is today, April 23, 2018. We thank KeyBank for their generous support of this project.

Willamette Valley Oregon Economic Forum

Join us Thursday May 10, 2018 in Salem when we partner with SEDCOR for our exciting new event!

Oregon Regional Indicators

Oregon’s largest metropolitan economies remain strong as the expansion approaches its ninth year. Highlights of this month’s report include:

Link to full report here.

• For all regions covered by this report, both raw and moving average measures (which smooth monthly volatility) remained above zero in February, indicating an above-trend pace of activity.
• New home permits made negative contributions in the Eugene-Springfield and Salem regions; in general, new housing construction continues to disappoint outside of the Portland metro and Bend areas.
• Broad labor market indicators – the unemployment rate, labor force growth, and initial unemployment claims – all remain consistent with very strong labor markets that will likely continue to support ongoing job growth.
• Home prices continue to rise; the Portland Case-Schiller measure of home prices for Portland made a substantial positive contribution (similar data on a monthly basis is not available for other regions).

Media Contacts:
Tim Duy – 541.346.4660 (w)