As is customary for the month of January, Jackson County's payroll employment took its typical seasonal hit. According to the Medford office for WorkSource Oregon, payroll employment decreased by 3,960 in the report just released this morning. 2,790 of the jobs lost were in retail employment, generally due to the layoff of people hired for the Christmas season.
The seasonally-adjusted unemployment remains unchanged at 10.4 percent from the month of December for Jackson County, and that is better than the January, 2012 figure of 11.0 percent. In Josephine County, the year-over-year figure is the same at 11.7 percent, and is a tick higher than the December, 2012 number of 11.6 percent.
Over on the Oregon coast, Coos County's unemployment rate rose to a seasonally-adjusted figure of 10.5 percent from 10.2 percent. Looking back to January 2012, the Coos County unemployment number was only slightly higher at 10.6. In Curry County, the unemployment rate held at 11.1 percent from month to month, and looking at the year to year figures, 2012's number was slightly higher at 11.3.
