BEND, OR -- Job growth remains strong in Deschutes County, especially in the tourism industry. Regional Economist Damon Runberg says it's one of the region's dominant fields. He tells KBND the three fastest growing sectors were Leisure/Hospitality, Accommodations/Food Services and Retail Trade. "We are at all time records of employment in Deschutes County for those kind of tourism jobs. Pretty much every summer over the last three, we've broken the record for summer employment in those tourism-related industries. It continues to be really strong."

But, Runberg says, "I think we're starting to see this plateau a bit, or approaching a plateau, because the growth over the last year is a little bit slower than it has been in years prior. So, I think we're starting to see a point where we're starting to hit capacity with some of those in tourism jobs, perhaps."

In June, the three primary tourism-related sectors accounted for more than 31,000 jobs in Deschutes County.