The recent Oregon Jobs report indicated a pattern; that over the past few years, the third quarter usually shows slower growth than the previous two quarters.

Bill Watkins with the California Lutheran University's Center for Economic Research says Oregon could be in a better position to attract new business, but has had some missteps along the way, beginning with the passage of Measures 66 and 67 in 2010.  "Last summer there was the mistake with Mercedes wanting to do a car advertisement in Oregon and it got all screwed up, and they ended up not doing that. Before that, there was this snafu with Facebook and the tax situation that got a lot of publicity, and the problem is, those things, along with people looking at the tax rates and some of the other policies, just, people don't give it a second look. Once you get off that list, you're no longer on a short list, you can't make it up."

Watkins says if the “Corporate Kicker Tax” passes in the general election, that will not help attract new business to Oregon.

Watkins was a guest on 1110 KBND’s Lar's Larson show Wednesday.