BEND, OR -- Deschutes County job growth started to slow in 2017, but the latest numbers released by Oregon’s Employment Department show the region is still adding jobs at a fast pace. Deschutes County’s jobless rate remained at 4.1% in January.
Although Deschutes County lost 880 jobs, economists say that’s significantly fewer than typical for the month. Regional Economist Damon Runberg says that may have been influenced by the unseasonably warm winter, "that led to fewer seasonal layoffs than typically expected."