COSTAR INSIGHT
Construction, Leisure and Hospitality Hiring Carries Portland, Oregon’s Nonfarm Payroll in 2023 Manufacturing Sector Continues To Shed Jobs
By John Gillem CoStar Analytics December 28, 2023 | 12:01 P.M.
The Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area lost approximately 5,900 jobs month over month in November, equating to a 0.46% decrease in the nonfarm payroll. The trend is based on preliminary non-seasonally adjusted employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
However, when examining the data through the 11-month mark of 2023, the nonfarm payroll now stands at 25,900 jobs larger than it was in January and just above 1.26 million jobs for a percentage gain of 2.09%. While hovering near record territory, payroll figures may have been a bit skewed by seasonal hiring in the retail sector, as the winter months and holidays often bring increased hiring. For instance, the trade, transportation and utilities sector added almost 3,000 jobs month over month in November and is up 2,000 jobs on the year. Nonetheless, leisure and hospitality payrolls – which are still fighting to move past prepandemic employment – continue to expand and come in second across the metropolitan area in 2023, growing on a percentage basis of 6.29% since January. Staffing at the new Ritz-Carlton hotel development in Downtown Portland was a likely contributor to these gains. The sector is now approximately 10,000 jobs shy of the alltime high mark of 131,300 reached in August 2019. Projects such as the Ritz-Carlton hotel have also driven construction hiring, which leads Portland on a numerical basis in 2023, with 8,900 positions added. Not all sectors have experienced growth this year, however. The manufacturing sector has shed 4,200 jobs – primarily in durable goods – for a percentage loss of 3.31% this year. Businesses shedding headcounts this year include Marquis Spas in Yamhill County, which laid off 115 workers. Owens-Brockway Glass Container and Cascades Tissue Group laid off 81 and 88 workers, as well. Weakness in the manufacturing sector could signify further loosening in space markets across industrial real estate, which has already seen vacancies climb by 1.1% in 2023.
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