One weaker spot in the report was the
average workweek for all private employees, which unexpectedly decreased to 34.
Statewide factory job growth has been soft, and the
average workweek index suggests that the market for manufacturing workers is not tight.
Both measures of current labor demand, the current number of workers and the current
average workweek, were negative in both September and October.
6% decrease in the
average workweek, the increase in real average weekly earnings was less than 1%.
The
average workweek remained unchanged for the fifth month in a row at 34.
The harsh weather cut into the length of the
average workweek in February, which hit its lowest level since January 2011.
Other details of the employment report are expected to be fairly encouraging, with an anticipated bounce in average hourly earnings and the length of the
average workweek, which both slipped in July.
The
average workweek pulled off a nine-month high, with a gauge of the overall work effort falling, but average hourly earnings rose four cents.
Construction employment fell for the first time since May 2012, manufacturing payrolls were flat, and
average workweek hours declined from a mine-month high.
3 percent last month, slightly more than analysts had expected, while the length of the
average workweek was unchanged.
The
average workweek for Ore gon manufacturing workers rose to 41.
22 from October to November, seasonally adjusted, as a result of the decrease in real average hourly earnings combined with the unchanged
average workweek.
