Douglas Economic Indicators - May 2026

1 day ago
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The May 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.

Unemployment has been stable in recent months, although there has been a slight increase since last spring. The April unemployment rate was 6.2% in Douglas, 0.5 percentage points higher than in April 2025.

Total employment changed little over the last year, but individual industries were on different trajectories. The strongest growth was in local government, including education and tribal government. Private education and health services, which has been the engine of growth for several years in most places in the U.S., added 100 jobs (+1%). That is positive, but slow relative to historical trends. Several industries declined, most notably retail, federal government, and manufacturing.

Graphs of the Month: Speaking of manufacturing – since employment in the industry has declined in recent years, I wanted to widen the lens to look at historical context and compare to the state. The graph of the month compares change in manufacturing jobs over time, with January 2010 as the baseline.

Source: Oregon Employment Department, Current Employment Statistics

Manufacturing employment grew in Douglas and Oregon throughout the 2010s, and peaked for both around 2019, with a 20-25% increase over the decade. While employment declined in the 2020 recession, manufacturing was one of the least impacted industries during that time. Many manufactured goods still had substantial or growing demand, and working practices were generally easier to maintain under pandemic response measures than many office buildings or hotels for example. Losses were relatively minor and recovery relatively quick in manufacturing compared to jobs overall.

Since late 2022, however, manufacturing jobs have declined consistently in Oregon and Douglas. Oregon now has about 8%, and Douglas 5%, more manufacturing jobs than in 2010. Those declines aren’t concentrated in just one manufacturing subsector, but the local industry mix does shape the outcome. In Oregon, the drop in computer and electronic product manufacturing has been particularly stark, which isn’t an industry we have much employment in in Douglas County.

The date we choose as a baseline matters a great deal to the shape and interpretation of the trends. Looking further back, all of the recent change pales in comparison to the massive structural change in manufacturing jobs caused by the 2008 Great Recession. Starting in 2010 measures the change from the bottom of the trough, and the strong growth of the 2010s didn’t make up that gap, especially in Douglas County.

Some other great reads from around the state this month: