South Coast Economy in Summary

Below are this month’s South Coast indicators with February 2024 data. You can also view them by following this QualityInfo link.

South Coast Economy

Coos County employment grew by 220 over the year to February, while Curry County employment declined by 170 over that time. Private health care and education added jobs in both counties, and Coos county also added jobs in government and professional services. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in was 4.8% for Coos and 4.9% for Curry. Most regions of the state have seen a small uptick in unemployment since mid-2023, although rates remain low in historical perspective.

You can find the latest South Coast Employment Press Releases that dive deeper into industry specific employment details here:

South Coast Employment in February

Special Topic: Construction Employment

Construction has typically been one of the industries that is most sensitive to recession job loss, although 2020 was largely an exception. The special chart this month looks at indexed job growth in Oregon and the South Coast with 2001 as its baseline.

Both Coos and Curry counties experienced strong construction job growth in the early 2000s, and steep losses in the Great Recession era. Curry County’s recovery from the Great Recession was fairly muted, and the county still has about the same number of construction jobs as in 2001. Coos County, on the other hand, has experienced stronger growth than the state in most periods of the last 25 years and is now well above the 2001 baseline. Coos County, like the state, is now at an all-time high in construction employment.

Good Labor Market Reads on Quality Info