Labor force participation in Oregon at lowest recorded point since 1976

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Source: The Oregonian

Just three in five Oregon adults are in the labor market, leaving the smallest share of workers and job seekers supporting the population since officials started keeping track in 1976.

The labor force participation rate has slumped for years and is only now starting to stabilize. A pair of interactive maps use recent state data to illustrate the depth and breadth of the fallout.

Between 2010 and 2013, the percentage of adults either working or seeking work fell in all but two of 36 counties. By last year, less than half of the adults in Josephine, Douglas and Curry counties were employed -- or looking to be.

The labor force drain began at the turn of the century and quickened after the economic collapse. Job opportunities were so few and far between that thousands just stopped searching.

Read more: http://www.oregonlive.com/money/index.ssf/2014/05/labor_force_participation_in_oregon_at_lowest_recorded_point_county-by-county_map.html

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1. Oregon's official unemployment rate is 6.9%

Uh huh ...