First the good news: Central Oregon is out front among
Oregon regions in job growth.
Now the not so good: It could take another eight years,
until 2022, for the region to exceed the total jobs in the region in
pre-recession 2007.
This scenario of where the region has been, is now and
might be heading is contained in the Oregon Employment Department report from regional economist Damon Runberg.
The report says regional employment--including Deschutes,
Jefferson and Crook counties--should grow by 16% from a base year of 2012 in
the decade to 2022. State growth is projected to be 15%/
Altogether the region should add more than 12,000 jobs by
2022, the highest number nearly 2,500 in healthcare and related fields,
followed by tourism oriented employment with more than 2,100.
Improvement
in the local housing market with new construction jobs and growth in retail and
hospitality employment from tourism should also continue to boost the regional
jobs picture, the report concludes.
However, by 2022 the region will likely have created only
1% more jobs (940) more than it had in 2007.
“Even with strong employment gains in 2013 the region’s
employment levels remain far below their peal levels before the recession.
Deschutes County lost more than 11,000 jobs during the recession,” the report
says. “By the end of 2013 only 4,900 of those jobs were recovered.”
