According to a report from Annette Shelton-Tiderman from the State of Oregon Employment Department, Curry County, home to nearly 23,000 people, and the incorporated town of Brookings accounts for nearly 30 percent of the county’s population. However, Brookings’ economic activities are interwoven with those of the adjacent, unincorporated community of Harbor.
Population figures alone do not adequately represent the dynamics of this area. On an employment basis, Curry County reports roughly 6,365 jobs, 69 percent of which are located in the Brookings-Harbor area.
Often called “the sunbelt of Oregon,” our southwestern corner of the state has a well-deserved reputation for attracting tourists and retirees. It is no surprise that Brookings-Harbor’s employment in the leisure and hospitality sector leads that of health care and social assistance by only a few jobs. Together, these sectors account for nearly four out of 10 area jobs. Countywide, these two industries ranked second and third; together they provided 30 percent of this rural county’s employment.
Trade, transportation, and utilities ranked third in the Brookings-Harbor area employment and first across the rest of Curry County. Typically, this sector encompasses a wide variety of businesses and occupations. In Curry County, 85 percent of the employment in that industry is in retail trade, which supports many tourism-related endeavors.
Although both the Brookings-Harbor area and the county see just over half of all employment generated by the top three sectors, the presence of other sectors differs. For example, the manufacturing footprint is twice as big in Brookings-Harbor as in the rest of the county. In contrast, public administration, those services provided by government entities, has a greater presence outside Brooking-Harbor, where only 2 percent of employment falls under government ownership. Employment in natural resources and mining is primarily outside the Brookings-Harbor area.
The employment footprint of educational services, construction, financial activities, other services, and information are more or less comparable between the Brookings-Harbor area and the rest of the county.
Curry County’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 6.2 percent from a revised 5.8 percent in October. The rate is the same as the November 2017 rate. Curry County’s total nonfarm payroll employment decreased over the month by 170 jobs. No substantive employment gains were reported Leisure and hospitality shed 100 jobs, which is typical this time of year. Additional small losses were reported in construction. Curry County reported a loss of 80 jobs over the year ending in November, resulting in a negative 0.2 percent over the year job loss. Manufacturing dominated the county’s over the year employment growth. Industries losing jobs over the year included professional and business services leisure and hospitality and construction.
Government employment decreased over the year, reflecting a legislatively mandated reclassification of home care workers from state government to private education and health services, which reported a corresponding uptick.
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