Source: Kristian Foden-Vencil, Oregon Public Broadcasting

But the departure of shipping giant Hanjin from the Port of Portland could slow the recovery.

The report finds that much of Portland’s job growth has been in the high tech sector. And that permits to build apartments have returned to pre-recession levels. But Wells Fargo economist, Mark Vitner, says losing Hanjin is bad news.

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“If a business needs to have a thriving port that has a number of shippers available to it,” he said, “they may opt to expand productions somewhere else. I mean, that’s where this could come back and hurt.”

Hanjin has told the Port that because of escalating costs, it will stop calling at Terminal 6 in January. Shipments will go through the Puget Sound instead.

The Port of Portland says that when Terminal 6 was shut down because of a labor dispute last year, customers who trucked their goods to the Puget Sound area paid up to $1,000 extra per container.

PRP