The unemployment rate for Portland reached 14% in April. A record stretching back decades. Though slightly below the US (14.4%) and Oregon (14.8%) rates.
Multnomah County relatively harder hit with a 15.7% unemployment rate.
Official Oregon forecast sees high unemployment rate for years. Only dropping to 10 percent at the end of 2022.
More than 12 percent of all jobs in the Portland region disappeared in a single month.
The accommodation and food services sector (hotels, restaurants, bars, etc.) lost more than half of their employment. A few major sectors saw double-digit declines: construction, retail trade and health care.
Residential building permits for construction of single-family homes in the Portland region declined by 42 percent.