Portland Jobs - Where to Look
Although the area has continued to lose jobs along with the rest of the state and country as a whole, there are still many places to look for jobs in Portland (Click here).
Portland has a population of about 575,930, making it the 29th most populous state in the country. However, about 2 million people live in the Portland metropolitan area, the third most populous in the nation. Portland is the most populous city in Oregon and the third most populous city in the Pacific Northwest.
During August, Oregon saw its unemployment rate increase from 11.8 percent to 12.2 percent, which is higher than the national unemployment rate of 9.7 percent. This was a change in trend, as Oregon had seen a continually decreasing unemployment rate from May through July.
The state had a total non-farm employment of 1,624,900 workers during August, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is down from 1,631,500 workers during July and a 5.8 percent decrease from last year.
Although the August unemployment rate for the Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton area has not yet been released, the area continued to lose jobs during the month. The area had a total non-farm unemployment of 971,600 workers during August, down from 976,600 workers during July and a 5.9 percent decrease from last year.
While those may not sound like encouraging statistics, there are still many places to look for jobs in Portland and throughout the state. For instance, Oregon is home to six Fortune 500 companies, four of which are located in Portland.
The Fortune 500 companies in Portland include Precision Castparts, Schnitzer Steel Industries, StanCorp Financial and Portland General Electric. The state’s other two Fortune 500 companies include Nike, located in Beaverton, and Lithia Motors, located in Medford.
One prominent industry in Portland - and an emerging industry throughout the United States and the rest of the world - is the green industry. Portland has been referred to as the most environmentally friendly city in America and the second most environmentally friendly city in the world.
If you’ve ever wanted to get into the beer brewing business, then Portland might be the place for you. The city is noted for its large number of microbreweries and microdistilleries, as well as its strong affection for coffee. Portland also is known for its manufacturing, real estate, construction and logistics industries.
Most of all, Portland is often considered a great place to live. Earlier this year, Mercer ranked Portland 42nd in the world for quality of living, citing its political stability, personal freedom, sanitation, crime, housing, natural environment, recreation, banking facilities, availability of consumer goods, education and public services, including transportation.
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