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People’s Bridge
Tilikum Crossing a
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Volume XLIV
‘City 0 /Roses’
Number 17
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www.portlandobserver.com
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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