Douglas County Economic Indicators - January 2025
The January 2025 edition of the Douglas County Economic Indicators is below and available at this QualityInfo.org link.
Over the course of 2024, Douglas County added 290 jobs, growth of about 1%. Growing industries included government, manufacturing, and private education and health care. Health care specifically has largely driven job growth over the year across the state, while Douglas’s growth has been a little more balanced between several industries. While most other industries grew or saw little change, retail trade and professional and business services employment declined over the year.
Seasonally adjusted unemployment was 5.1% in December. The unemployment rate, which is low in historical perspective for our area, was relatively stable over the year.
This month’s special topic is worker flow. The Census Bureau’s OnTheMap tool is a remarkable resource that relates worker household information to employer data, making it one of the most effective ways to research and visualize the relationship between work location and home location.
Using the most recent (2022) data for Douglas County, I looked at where workers crossed county lines. Of the 37,500 workers employed in Douglas by this measure, 27% came in from outside the county. Of the 42,000 workers living in Douglas County, a slightly higher proportion (35%) left the county for work. The Venn Diagram overlaps for the 27,000 workers who live and work in the county.
This data can be a little difficult to interpret, since it represents work and home location of workers but doesn’t necessarily tell us about that worker’s physical commute. The individual could make daily trips, occasional trips, or work entirely remote from the establishment their paycheck comes from. Still, it’s an interesting and unique way to look at the connections workers have across physical distances.
This month’s articles included:
Health Care Dominates List of Fastest Growing Jobs in Southwestern Oregon on Quality Info
Business Ownership by Gender in Oregon on Quality Info
A More Inclusive Future: Oregon’s Disability Workforce Journey on Quality Info
As always, the Indicators contain all the latest economic data on our area. If you have a data question or want to learn more about any of these topics, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Henry L. Fields
Workforce Analyst/Economist
Serving Lane and Douglas counties
Oregon Employment Department
(541) 359-9178
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