Local Oregon businesses plead for workers, and think federal unemployment benefits are partially to blame.
Good news! Oregon s employment division says Jefferson County s economy has all but fully recovered from the pandemic.
The unemployment rate is barely two points higher than before the pandemic began. The county has 60 fewer jobs than before the pandemic. That s less than a 1% difference.
Not such great news for employers. They can t find workers. There s a suppression of the labor supply, says economist Damon Runberg, and a superheating of the demand.
Runberg watches the Central Oregon economy for Oregon s employment department. He points to varied reasons for the worker shortage across the nation.