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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 23, 2014)
Texting and Driving Crackdown http://www.portlandobserver.com Campaign raises awareness to decrease road hazards QR code for Portland Observer Online People’s Bridge Tilikum Crossing a nod to our Native American history See Local News, page 3 See Local News, page 3 lattò Volume XLIV ‘City 0 /Roses’ Number 17 k i-4 ¿ « 1 www. D www.portlandobserver.com U U Going to Work Wednc Wednesday • April 23, 2014 Established in 1970 Committed to Cultural Diversity sears, , en.ice More jobs are expected to follow best job growth in nearly a decade Workers (below) pour concrete on the western approach to the new bridge for the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Transit Project. The project, at 76 percent complete, has reached a new milestone by creating 10,298jobs and providing a record $153 million in contracts to Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) firms. See related story, page 4. T' The largest monthly gain in jobs in Or egon a little under a decade has put a slight dent in the state’s high unemployment rate, but new long term projections expect even more of a positive jolt to the economy with a 15 percent increase in employment over 10 years. Seasonally adjusted, Oregon saw 7,500 new jobs in March, the largest since Novem ber 2005 when 9,300jobs were gained. The overall unemployment rate, released last week by the Oregon Employment Depart ment, basically was unchanged from the month before at 6.8 percent, but the figure continues a trend of job growth. At this time last year, unemployment for the state stood at 8 percent. With businesses across the state report ing 10,000more job vacancies early this year than they did the prior year, the growth brings to light another huge question of the unemployment puzzle: Where are the jobs? Food preparation, service workers, and production workers topped the list of occu pations with vacancies, with more than 4,000 apiece. In comparison, the employment from the construction industry saw the most gains in employment. TriMet repored a new employment mile stone last week by creating 10,298 jobs for the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Transit Project. (See story, page 4) Oregon will add 258,000 jobs by 2022, according to the new projections. The pro jection stems from anticipated private-sec tor gains o f232,000jobs (17 percent) and the addition of 26,000 government jobs (9 per cent). This long term 15 percent growth rate exceeds the 6 percent growth seen over the continued on page 4