May 2018 Oregon Regional Economic Indicators

In case you missed it, save the date for this year’s Oregon Economic Forum.

Good morning.  Below is the University of Oregon Regional Economic Indexes for May 2018.  The release date is today, July 13, 2018. We thank KeyBank for their generous support of this project.

Link to full report (with charts) here.

Oregon’s major metropolitan areas continued to post solid economic numbers in May.  Highlights of this month’s report include:

• For all regions covered by this report, moving average measures (which smooth monthly volatility) were solidly above zero, indicating an above-trend pace of activity (trend activity differs across regions).
• The Trade, Transportation, and Utilities Employmentcomponents were again generally weak; this appears to be largely a correction from substantial gains earlier this year.
• A slowdown in multifamily housing permits created a slight negative contribution for the Portland measure; the sector may be pulling back after last year’s gains. In contrast, multifamily housing permits helped boost the Salem measure.
• Record low unemployment rates are making large positive contributions to the measures.). Low levels of unemployment claims still signal that job growth is likely to continue for the foreseeable future.
• An acceleration in airport passenger growth provided an unusually large contribution to the Eugene measure (steady growth often holds the contributions near zero, or neutral).

Media Contacts:

Tim Duy – 541.346.4660 (w)