BEND, OR -- Job growth continues to show impressive results in Central Oregon. 2015 started with unemployment rates dropping in all three Central Oregon counties.  Regional Economist Damon Runberg tells KBND News that Deschutes County is again leading the state in growth. "The January unemployment rate of 7.1% in Deschutes County is really low. We haven't seen it like that since 2008. The job growth is really the highlight.  It's really fast across Central Oregon."  Runberg says, "In fact, we've added 4600 jobs in Deschutes County in the last year. It's an exceptional amount of jobs. It's pushing us to where we were before the recession started.  We're only 420 jobs shy of that on a seasonaly adjusted bases."

Jefferson County dropped from 9.2% in December to 8.7% in January.  Despite big layoffs in November at Woodgrain Millwork in Prineville, Crook County's rate declined from 10.5% in December to 10.1% in January.