Good morning. Below is the University of Oregon Regional Economic Indexes for December 2020. The release date is February 12, 2021. We thank KeyBank for their generous support of this project.
Oregon Regional Economic Indicators:
Regional indexes were weak in December as renewed business restrictions weighed on local economic activity. Highlights of the report:
- Two components in particular dragged down the measures. First, leisure and hospitality employment. The pandemic and related restrictions have a disproportionate negative impact on this sector. Second, and relatedly, rising initial unemployment claims as displaced workers sought aid also contributed to weakness in the measures.
- Incoming data though continues to reveal the uneven and unusual natural of this economic cycle. In particular, the housing sector has boomed with a consistently solid pace of home sales and rising home prices.
- In addition, regions continue to see near-neutral or positive contributions (such as in Central Oregon) from building permits. Rising single-family permits have compensated for softer multi-family permits in. the Portland region.
- Municipal waste flow have remained positive contributors to the measures. Unlike the last cycle, waste has not declined because spending has shifted into the goods sector (packaging waste) and a still strong housing market contributes to a steady stream of building-related waste.
- Looking forward, activity will remain subdued in the near-term as the economy struggles under the winter wave of the pandemic. Activity should accelerate in the months ahead as the pandemic moderates and, hopefully, vaccinations allow for a more complete reopening of the economy.
- The primary risk to the outlook is that we cannot contain the pandemic as quickly as hoped.
Media Contacts:
Tim Duy – 541.346.4660 (w)
