Feb. jobs pass pre-pandemic levels
By Terry Murry on Wednesday, March 29th, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
THE DALLES – Umatilla County has finally surpassed its pre-pandemic employment rate, but not by much.
“It’s 280 jobs ahead of where it was in February 2020,” Oregon Employment Department Regional Economist Dallas Fridley said. “That’s an increase of about one percent. It only took us three years to get there.”
On the other hand, Morrow County has been above the pre-pandemic rate for a few months. Fridley said in February it registered 630 jobs or 12.5 percent more than before the pandemic.
Fridley said that on average the state of Oregon has also surpassed the pre-pandemic rate, although a few counties do remain below that level. And, with an increase as small as Umatilla County’s, it could change for the worse in a short period of time.
“It would only take one month,” he said.
