State Employment Report Provides Murky Picture

Oregon has added jobs, but the unemployment rate has inched upward. The state Employment Department said Tuesday the unemployment rate is at 8.7 percent in July, up from 8.5 percent the month before.

 Meanwhile, the agency says payroll employment has grown for five straight months, adding 14,600 jobs. Such seeming contradictions are a result of the way the unemployment rate is calculated from a survey. Unlike previous month, there was growth in the public sector, while private sector jobs declined. 

The "U6" index that includes discouraged and marginally attached workers rose to 17.2 percent. 

The rate includes people looking for jobs. The ranks of the unemployed can grow when discouraged workers resume looking for work or when people enter the workforce by moving to the state or graduating from school.