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