Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 2002)
________ L News TI he CI ac I camas P rìnt WEdNEsdAy, FEbRUARy 20, 2002 Oregon’s unemployment rate rises to 8.0 percent for January; normal cuts more severe than usual NICK BARRON Business Manager Oregon’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate continued to climb in January to 8 percent, ac cording to the Oregon Employment Department. The increase, up from the re vised 7.8 percent figure for Decem ber 2001, marks the 13 th consecu tive month the state’s unemploy ment rate has risen. Oregon’s un employment rate fell to a low of 4.7 percent in December 2000, then started nosing up in January 2001 to 4.9 percent. The last time the state’s unem ployment rate reached the 8 per cent mark was January 1993, when it crested at 8.1 percent. This is the second-highest number of unem ployed individuals ever, with March 1983 holding the record with 173,300 Oregonians unemployed. In January of this year, 161,300 Oregonians were unemployed, compared with 104,800 last Janu ary. As for the nation, its unemploy ment rate slid from 5.8 percent in December to 5.6 percent in Janu ary. Each quarter, Oregon’s Depart ment of Administration Services issues a preliminary forecast for employment figures. While the re port for the current quarter has yet to be issued, David Cooke, employ ment economist for Oregon, be lieves the report will not give un employed Oregonians much hope. “The report will call for employ ment to essentially remain the same for the rest of this quarter and the next, with a growth of about 1.0 percent in the second and third quarters,” said Cooke. All major industries in Oregon slashed jobs in January, the worst hit industry being transportation equipment, which lost 3,300 jobs. While it is true that most indus tries are forced to cut jobs the first three months of the year, January’s cuts were more severe than usual. The lumber and wood products industry lost 1,200jobs in January for a number of reasons. Low prices, less demand for non-resi- dential construction and logging restrictions on federal forests are some of the grounds for the dis missal of employees. Due to the national recession and a shift to foreign production, the machinery industry let go of 2,900 jobs last month. The metal industry, both primary and fabri cated, has dropped a combined total of3,000jobs, mostly because of energy problems and a lack of demand for capital goods and transportation equipment. Along with the release of its January 2002 unemployment fig ures, the employment department announced its revised unemploy ment numbers for previous years. Each January, the department typi cally releases revised figures for the two prior years. The new numbers show that the overall employment level was stronger than originally indicated in late 2000 and the ma jority of 2001. 7o reach Nick Barron, e-mail barronoru@hotmaU.com or drop by B-104 Clackamas enrollment up 14.7 percent over same period in 2001 FRANKJORDAN News Editor Enrollment for fall term 2001 has increased 14.7 percent over the same period last year, according to figures released by Clackamas Community College last week. With the economy in a downturn and unemployment running at 8 percent in the state of Oregon, more people are turning to the col lege to enhance current job skills, or steer people in a direction away from current job paths. Short-term training program headcounts are up an astounding 127 percent over the same period in 2001, while community educa tion and advanced college credit students are up 25 and 40 percent, respectively. “We are at a point in the economy where more people are know that we are seeing more and more unemployed people who re ally desire to continue their educa tions, and now, more than ever, Arts-Oregon Transfer degrees (AAOT) have seen their enroll ment figures fall by 1.5 percent from the same period last year, but this "We are at a point in the economy where more people are seek ing to improve their quality of life, and education certainly follows that course...and now, more than ever, community college...is still the most affordable option for them." Mark Fallon Counselor, Oregon Employment Division seeking to improve their quality of life, and education certainly fol lows that course,” according to Mark Fallon, counselor with the Oregon Employment Division. “I community college is not only will ing to help people with short-term training, but it is still the most af fordable option for them.” Students seeking Associate of is the only category that has seen a decrease. Total headcount in 2001 reached 13,052 students, an 8.7 percent in crease from 2000. That total in cludes full-time, part-time and non credit students. Through the fourth week of winter term 2002, total enrollment has increased 8.3 percent over the witìtef térm'ol 2001. Full-time equivalency (FTE) for the college in the 2000-01 school year increased by 14.1 percent from the 1999-2000 school year. FIE is what the college uses to track how much money the college is taking in from tuition every year. Through the fourth week of winter term 2002, FTE has increased 11.4 percent over the same period in winter term 2001. 7o reach Frank Jordan, e-maU fmj68@hotmaU.com or drop by B-104
