Oregon, like the rest of the nation, struggled during the recession, but the state is on the road to economic recovery, with about 80 percent of the jobs the state lost regained. The Beaver State continues to be heavily dependent on trade, while government, education, and healthcare are other leading industries in Oregon.
These are the top five industries in Oregon,
according to the Oregon Blue Book:
1. Trade, transportation, and utilities: Traded sector companies, which make sales outside of the state while keeping dollars in Oregon, are an important part of the state's economy. Added together, trade, transportation, and utilities have gained more than 22,000 jobs over the last few years.
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2. Federal, state, and local government: Among the many industries in Oregon, government continues to face some of the toughest challenges due to budgetary issues. Almost 6,000 government jobs were cut as a result of the recession. Nevertheless, government continues to be one of the top industries in Oregon, with more than 300,000 people currently employed in some area of public service, according to the Blue Book.
3. Education and health services: This industry witnessed a 4.1 percent increase between 2013 and 2014. Education and health services provide about 254,000 jobs in Oregon.
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4. Professional and business services: The professional and business services industry has experienced one of the largest growth spurts among Oregon's top industries, reports the Blue Book. The industry can be broken down into three sectors: personal, scientific, and technical services; management of companies and enterprises; and administrative and support and waste management and remediation services.
5. Manufacturing: This broad industry includes food, textile, apparel, machinery, chemical, and plastics manufacturing. Although employment decreased by 14 percent from 2008 to 2011,
KGW reported that it is expected to increase 11 percent from 2012 to 2022. In more recent years, Oregon manufacturers were finding it difficult to fill the jobs they are adding to their companies, the news station reported.
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