Employment Outlook Tilts Slightly More Positive
Friday, July 27, 2012 at 1:15PM
Oregon business leaders are slightly more optimistic this year about the odds their businesses will see job growth.Half (51 percent) of Oregon’s business leaders surveyed by CFM in early 2012 expect hiring in the state to remain about the same, but a third (33 percent) predict employment numbers will increase during the year.
This forecast was the most positive since August 2005 for subscribers of Oregon Business magazine, when 38 percent of business leaders said they believed their companies would increase hiring in the coming year.
State employment trends for June appear to be a touch more positive.
”However sluggish the economy, Portland-area employers are adding jobs at a speed that's outpacing the rest of the state,” The Oregonian reported in a July 23 story. ”The metro economy has gained thousands of jobs during each of the last three months, despite a data revision that drove down May's employment numbers.”
“The June unemployment rate hovered at 8 percent for the second consecutive month, a half percent below the statewide average,” the story noted.
The top three reasons for job growth in 2012, Oregon Business survey respondents told CFM, would be higher sales and revenues (40 percent), expanded market/introduced new products (15 percent) and improving economy (8 percent).
If the job numbers remain flat for the year, business leaders say it will be because of low demand/sales (24 percent), poor economy/economic conditions (15 percent), government regulations/taxes (12 percent) and problems in housing/construction industries (2 percent).
During the next 10 years, the most important type of new jobs to add to Oregon’s overall economy will be in the technology sector (86 percent said these would be very important), manufacturing (67 percent), health care (60 percent), agriculture (48 percent) and the service industry (44 percent).
CFM conducted the survey of Oregon Business subscribers in January. There were 660 respondents. Survey results are included in the March 2012 issue.
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Over the next year, is the number of new jobs available at your company or organization likely to?
|
|
May 2004 |
Aug 2005 |
Nov |
Aug 2009 |
Oct 2010 |
Jan 2012 |
|
Increase |
38% |
38% |
31% |
22% |
26% |
33% |
|
Stay the same |
49% |
50% |
56% |
56% |
55% |
51% |
|
Decrease |
11% |
10% |
11% |
19% |
17% |
13% |
|
Not sure |
3% |
2% |
2% |
3% |
3% |
3% |
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