Douglas County Economic Indicators - September 2023
The September edition of the Douglas County Economic Indicators is also available on Quality Info.
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There was a slight decline in employment over the last year, with declines in industries such as manufacturing and retail trade overshadowing gains in leisure and hospitality and health care. Adjusting for the seasonal change in jobs, Douglas County is only 530 jobs below its pre-pandemic peak (-1%) and the unemployment rate has fallen one percentage point over the last twelve months.
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September marks the beginning of the school year, an exciting time for any parent. I marked the occasion by looking at the most up to date info on educational attainment in our region, or the highest level of education achieved for the population 25 and older.
Douglas County has more people who have graduated high school than the nation – 11 % of the U.S. population didn’t complete high school, whereas only 9% of the Douglas County population did not. Douglas has a significantly higher percentage who had some college or an associate’s degree, and a significantly lower percentage who have a bachelor’s degree or more. 18% of Douglas County residents have a four year degree or more, whereas 34% of the U.S. population does.
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Educational attainment isn’t the only goal of workforce development, and many of our most in-demand and high-wage jobs don’t require a four year degree. But understanding the local mix is an important element of meeting the needs of the workforce and employers.
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This month’s articles included:                                                                                  Â
Reedsport: Finding Data on Coastal Douglas on Quality InfoÂ
Oregon’s Labor Leverage Ratio Shows a Slightly Looser Labor Market on Quality InfoÂ
2022 Migration: Who Left? on Oregon Office of Economic Analysis blog
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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.
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Henry L. Fields
Workforce Analyst/Economist
Oregon Employment Department
(541) 359-9178
