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JOBS Jackson County's March unemployment rate returns to pre-recession level Comment By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune Posted Apr. 21, 2015 at 2:32 PM Updated Apr 21, 2015 at 3:13 PM By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune Posted Apr. 21, 2015 at 2:32 PM Updated Apr 21, 2015 at 3:13 PM » Social News Not since the days before Southern Oregon plummeted into the depths of the Great Recession have jobless figures looked so good here as they did in March. Jackson County's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in March was 6.5 percent, down from 7 percent in February, according to figures compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and released by Oregon's Employment Department Tuesday. A year earlier the jobless figure was 8.5 percent. The March jobless rate matched that of March 2008, a point when economic dark clouds were gathering. "The unemployment rate had risen just slightly from the upper 5s," said Guy Tauer, a regional economist with the Employment Department. "It was just starting to climb at the tail end of the housing boom before the downturn of the recession hit." While federal economic data indicated the recession ended more than five years ago, Southern Oregon didn't see signs of recovery until relatively recently. Many of the employees who lost their jobs in Jackson County had trouble finding work and gave up or moved, according to government reports. The county's civilian labor force — solidly above 100,000 a decade ago — declined during the recession as baby boomers retired and disaffected workers left the area. Slowly, the trend is changing. In March 2013, the Jackson County labor force was measured at 95,257. A year ago it was 95,723 and last month, 96,155. "The numbers are inching back up," Tauer said. "Part of that is population growth. More people are hiring and there is job growth in more industries, so people who have been sitting on the sidelines are feeling more positive about looking for work." Tauer noted the growth in part-time positions during the recession has steadily declined. In 2014, he said, 73 percent of all jobs posted in Jackson, Josephine, Coos, Curry and Douglas counties were for full-time openings. Year-over-year, only one broad non-government sector, information, saw a decline as a variety of employers shifted their staffs to other regions. With overall job growth of 3.4 percent during the past year, the economic climate is changing, said University of Oregon economist Tim Duy. "In many regions of Oregon, conditions are getting to what is considered much more normal," Duy said. "There is a lower unemployment rate, faster pace of job growth and more evidence of economic activity with new construction. We seem to be hitting that point in the cycle. You look at these numbers and conditions and it looks much more like what people expect during an expansion." Large swaths of the country, and most major metropolitan areas, saw an economic bounce long ago. But the first-in, last-out recession history in Southern Oregon held the region in its grip, at least psychologically. "For many people that's true," Duy said. "They've been told there is light at the end of the tunnel, and they're not actually seeing it. We've had six years of economic expansion that has been fairly moderate compared to the hole people saw themselves in after the recession. It's taken long enough to dig out of that hole to gain acceleration necessary to change the perception about the economy." Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 541-776-4463 or [email protected] . Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GregMTBusiness , on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/greg.stiles.31 , and read his blog at www.mailtribune.com/EconomicEdge . By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune Posted Apr. 21, 2015 at 2:32 PM Updated Apr 21, 2015 at 3:13 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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