March 2020 Oregon Regional Economic Indicators

Good afternoon. Below is the University of Oregon Regional Economic Indexes for March 2020. The release date is May 21, 2020. We thank KeyBank for their generous support of this project.

Oregon Regional Economic Indicators:

The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and related business closures began appearing in the regional economic data in March.

Download the full report here!

Highlights of this month’s report include:

• Measures for all regions declined in March as most areas reported below average growth.
• The data most negatively impacted in March were initial unemployment claims and air passenger traffic. Initial unemployment claims spiked due to widespread layoffs as firms shuttered their operations (claims data with sufficiently long history are only available in three regions).
• Air passenger traffic fell as travel declined sharply. The Central Oregon region experienced a particularly large decline in the lodging (room tax) revenue; the weakness in other regions was less pronounced in March (or, in other words, the weakness in lodging revenue accounts for more of the overall variation in the underlying growth in Bend).
• Housing markets held up in March with positive or nearly neutral contributions from housing permits and a solid pace of sales. Sales will decline in April; the possible resiliency of the housing market in this situation may help accelerate the eventual recovery.
• The regional measures will worsen again in April but should find support later this year as social distancing restrictions ease.

Media Contacts:
Tim Duy – 541.346.4660 (w)