Douglas County Economic Indicators - October 2026
The October 2026 Douglas County Economic Indicators are out now. You can find them attached and updated every month on our Quality Info Southwestern Oregon regional info page.
Douglas County’s nonfarm employment declined by 400 jobs over the year to September, a loss of about 1%. The largest losses were in manufacturing (-200 jobs, -5%), retail trade (-160 jobs, -4%) and construction (-110 jobs, -6%). Private education and health services grew by 230 jobs, an increase of roughly 3%.
Unemployment declined slightly over the year. In September 2026, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.9%, compared to 6.5% the year before.
Graph of the Month: Similar sounding occupations can have very different outlooks, particularly in technology careers. For this month’s special graph, I looked at employment, growth and wages for several related pairs of occupations.
Our Occupation Profiles Report can help differentiate key roles. If you search any of the occupation titles in the QualityInfo.org tool, you’ll not only find data such as wages and industries of employment, but also detailed descriptions, videos, and key skills and daily work activities to help you understand what makes a computer programmer distinct from a software developer.
Some other great reads from around the state this month:
Career Spotlight: Software Developers on Quality Info
The Diversity of Oregon’s Industries on Quality Info
Job Opening Trends in Help Wanted Online Ads on Quality Info
If you have a data question or want to learn more about any of these topics, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Best,
Henry L. Fields
Regional Economist
Serving Lane and Douglas counties
Oregon Employment Department
(541) 359-9178
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