Oregon jobs: Oregon lost 14,100 seasonally adjusted jobs between September and October, the biggest decline since February 1981. That’s no typo. Since 1981. Rich Read has the story.
Food stamp requests rising in Medford/Bend: The two housing markets powered by Californian transplants during the housing boom now see big jumps in food stamp requests. “I’ve been here 16 years and this is more than I’ve ever seen,” said Lisa Lewis, the state’s self-sufficiency program manager for the Medford area. Many of the people asking the state for help have never been in a welfare office before. They are “blue-collar professionals,” Lewis said. “They’re dry-wallers, electricians, plumbers.”
St. Helens mill shutdown: Boise says it will layoff 300 people from its St. Helens paper and pulp mill, a major Columbia County employer.
Homeowner help?: Lawmakers are again pushing financial officials to send help directly to homeowners to help them avoid foreclosure.
Hotel forecast, um, not good: Hotel occupancies are forecasted to fall to 58.6 percent in 2009, the lowest rate since 1971. “The deteriorating outlook for the economy is impacting travel habits and spending, and hotels are expected to experience reduced occupancy levels, and to a lesser degree, some room rate erosion through 2009,” said Scott Berman, principal and U.S. Leader of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Hospitality and Leisure practice.
Anybody got some upbeat news?