Source: Sergio Cisneros, Oregon Public Broadcasting

Oregon’s employment growth has been picking up over the past year. Recent figures show that it’s primarily due to the recovery in places outside the Portland metropolitan area.

According to the latest figures, Portland added about 20,000 private sector jobs over the past year; but unlike other times, the rest of the state is adding nearly that same number as well.

The cities in the state with the most employment growth are Bend and Medford.

Josh Lehner is with the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis. He says that the housing industry is no longer an economic drag in those cities, and new jobs are being created.

“Bend and Medford; their private sectors are growing at the fastest rate of all the different regions in the state. Portland is growing pretty steadily at a good rate, but these have now surpassed them in terms of the growth rates,” he said.

Lehner says the Housing and Government industries are recovering well, and those are major employers in many parts of the state.

Reports suggest positive growth rates will hold steady for the next couple of years.

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