June 2020 Regional Economic Indicators

Good morning.  Below is the University of Oregon Regional Economic Indexes for June 202o. The release date is August 25, 2020. We thank KeyBank for their generous support of this project.

Link to full report (with charts!) here.

Oregon Regional Economic Indicators:

Regional indexes were all positive in June as employment continued to rebound while economies gradually reopened. Highlights of this month’s report include:

• Moving average measures, which smooths monthly volatility, remained negative (the moving average measures still include the very weak month of April).
• Leisure and hospitality employment made a particularly strong contribution across regions; the sector had been one of the hardest hit by the initial shutdowns. Even after two months of job growth, the sector is a long way from recovery; statewide through July, leisure and hospitality has only recovered half the jobs lost in March and April.
• Overall, the labor market remains distressed as revealed by high unemployment rates and high levels of initial unemployment claims, both of which contributed negatively to the measures.
• Interestingly, housing activity remains very resilient. New permits made nearly neutral contributions in most regions; the Bend area had a solid positive contribution. Residential sales are also holding strong.
• I believe regional economies are still adjusting from the push-pull of the shutdown and reopening and have yet to establish a new post-pandemic base.

Media Contacts:
Tim Duy – 541.346.4660 (w)