The August 2015 Oregon Regional Economic Indexes of was released today. Full report is available here. We thank KeyBank for their generous support of this project.
Regional economic performance was mixed in August, but overall growth remains above average for most metropolitan areas in Oregon. Highlights of the report include:
- New housing units permitted remained a negative factor in the Eugene-Springfield, Rogue Valley, and Salem areas. Although existing housing sales are quite strong throughout the state, the market for new construction, particularly single-family homes, remains muted in many areas.
- The Portland metro regions pulled back from recent very strong numbers, but underlying trends continue to indicate a pace of activity consistent with past expansion. The Rogue Valley region largely maintained the improvement experienced in July.
- Weak permits and employment components negatively impacted the Salem measure. I believe this largely reflects volatility in the data; the underlying trend for Salem remains solid.
- Growth in the Salem and Eugene-Springfield continues to track sideways at an above average pace. Central Oregon looks to be picking up somewhat after some softer numbers earlier this year. Still, the region is enjoying solid growth.
Reminder: The regional measures are prone to potentially large swings due to the volatility of some of the underlying data, particularly measures of employment. The moving average measures smooth out much of that volatility.
