Counties with the highest unemployment in Oregon
The first jobs report fully under the new Trump administration showed a softening job market, with the unemployment rate ticking up to 4.1% in February, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics figures released March 7.
Job growth increased but fell below expectations, one of several possible fissures appearing in the once rock-solid labor market. Businesses are pulling back on hiring as the economic forecast and policy outlook grow murkier due to volatile trade policies and large cuts to the federal workforce.
Federal government employment fell by 10,000 in February, pushing up total cuts to the federal workforce. In the first two months of 2025, 62,530 federal workers were let go. However, the most recent cuts, including the Department of Education's workforce getting slashed by nearly half, have not yet appeared in official jobs data. Retail employment also fell by 6,000.
The broader unemployment index, known as the U-6, which also includes laborers working part-time because they can't find full-time work, and those who want to work but have given up searching, rose to 8%, its highest since October 2021.
To get a glimpse of regional variations in employment, Stacker compiled a list of counties with the highest unemployment rates in Oregon, using BLS data. Counties are ranked by their preliminary unemployment rate in January 2025, with initial ties broken by the number of unemployed people within that county, though some ties may remain. County-level unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted.
Key takeaways: Jobs report shows softening labor market
February's job growth of 151,000 fell below economists' expected gains of 160,000, showing the labor market is cooling faster than predicted. Experts say many companies weighing policy changes and economic uncertainty are deciding it's safer to hold off on hiring decisions for now.
"If you were a company and you were saying, 'I'm looking to expand, or I'm looking to hire,' you would have investors in those companies saying, 'Are you crazy?'" Ron Hetrick, senior labor economist at Lightcast, told Marketplace.
Consumer spending fell in January for the first time in two years, which may have led to layoffs or hiring slowdowns, Nela Richardson, ADP's chief economist, told NBC News.
The big story: From bold promises to frozen labor market
After an initial market pop following Trump's electoral win, indexes have slumped to below when he took office, and uncertainty about the future of the markets is a common theme. Are threatened tariffs in place, delayed, reversed, or ramped up? Has that federal worker been fired or given their job back? Are those federal dollars slashed or reinstated? It's a question mark that changes daily.
Research shows that uncertainty invites lower investment, slows employment, and increases financial market volatility. The word "uncertain" showed up 47 times in the March edition of the Beige Book, the Federal Reserve's snapshot of reports from across the nation, compared to 17 times in the previous report from January.
The new administration's blitz of executive orders and trade policy waffling have cast a dense fog over the short-term economic outlook. One thing that is known? Uncertainty isn't good for business planning, job creation, or hiring.
In a March 12 interview with Semafor, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon noted that average consumers likely don't change "what they're going to do because they read about tariffs," but "companies might."
"Uncertainty is not a good thing," Dimon added.
To get a better idea of your community's current economy, read on to see the counties with the highest unemployment in Oregon.
36. Sherman County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.1%
--- 1-month change: +0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -1.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 942 people (39 unemployed)
35. Benton County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.3%
--- 1-month change: +0.7 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.7 percentage points
- Total labor force: 49,485 people (2,113 unemployed)
34. Hood River County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.5%
--- 1-month change: +1.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 13,369 people (600 unemployed)
33. Washington County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.8%
--- 1-month change: +0.9 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.7 percentage points
- Total labor force: 340,000 people (16,343 unemployed)
31. Clackamas County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5%
--- 1-month change: +1.0 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.8 percentage points
- Total labor force: 226,933 people (11,297 unemployed)
31. Polk County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5%
--- 1-month change: +0.8 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 46,014 people (2,290 unemployed)
29. Marion County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.1%
--- 1-month change: +0.9 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 177,369 people (9,093 unemployed)
29. Yamhill County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.1%
--- 1-month change: +1.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.8 percentage points
- Total labor force: 56,107 people (2,876 unemployed)
26. Multnomah County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.2%
--- 1-month change: +1.0 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.7 percentage points
- Total labor force: 468,538 people (24,521 unemployed)
26. Malheur County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.2%
--- 1-month change: +1.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 12,746 people (663 unemployed)
26. Lane County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.2%
--- 1-month change: +0.8 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 189,100 people (9,833 unemployed)
24. Deschutes County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.3%
--- 1-month change: +1.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 109,742 people (5,837 unemployed)
24. Morrow County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.3%
--- 1-month change: +1.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.8 percentage points
- Total labor force: 5,880 people (310 unemployed)
22. Wheeler County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.4%
--- 1-month change: +1.9 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 708 people (38 unemployed)
22. Gilliam County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.4%
--- 1-month change: +0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 1,053 people (57 unemployed)
21. Clatsop County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.6%
--- 1-month change: +1.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.8 percentage points
- Total labor force: 19,464 people (1,086 unemployed)
19. Linn County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.7%
--- 1-month change: +1.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 62,118 people (3,532 unemployed)
19. Tillamook County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.7%
--- 1-month change: +1.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.8 percentage points
- Total labor force: 11,359 people (645 unemployed)
18. Jefferson County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.9%
--- 1-month change: +1.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 11,070 people (657 unemployed)
16. Wasco County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 6%
--- 1-month change: +1.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 12,407 people (743 unemployed)
16. Coos County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 6%
--- 1-month change: +1.0 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 27,111 people (1,622 unemployed)
15. Jackson County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 6.1%
--- 1-month change: +1.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 105,584 people (6,419 unemployed)
13. Columbia County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 6.2%
--- 1-month change: +1.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.7 percentage points
- Total labor force: 26,851 people (1,662 unemployed)
13. Baker County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 6.2%
--- 1-month change: +1.8 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 6,714 people (415 unemployed)
12. Umatilla County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 6.3%
--- 1-month change: +1.8 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.0 percentage points
- Total labor force: 36,379 people (2,293 unemployed)
11. Lincoln County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 6.4%
--- 1-month change: +1.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.9 percentage points
- Total labor force: 20,621 people (1,328 unemployed)
10. Douglas County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 6.6%
--- 1-month change: +1.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.7 percentage points
- Total labor force: 46,384 people (3,061 unemployed)
8. Crook County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 6.7%
--- 1-month change: +1.0 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -1.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 13,036 people (876 unemployed)
8. Union County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 6.7%
--- 1-month change: +1.8 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 11,924 people (796 unemployed)
6. Curry County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 6.8%
--- 1-month change: +1.8 percentage points
--- 1-year change: 0.0 percentage points
- Total labor force: 8,069 people (550 unemployed)
6. Harney County (tie)
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 6.8%
--- 1-month change: +2.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.9 percentage points
- Total labor force: 3,540 people (239 unemployed)
5. Lake County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 7.1%
--- 1-month change: +2.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: -0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 3,415 people (243 unemployed)
4. Wallowa County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 7.3%
--- 1-month change: +2.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 3,462 people (254 unemployed)
3. Josephine County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 7.4%
--- 1-month change: +1.8 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.9 percentage points
- Total labor force: 35,033 people (2,597 unemployed)
2. Klamath County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 8.5%
--- 1-month change: +2.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 28,716 people (2,428 unemployed)
1. Grant County
- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 10.1%
--- 1-month change: +3.8 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +3.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 3,053 people (308 unemployed)
This story features data reporting by Karim Noorani, writing by Ben Popken, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 50 states.
