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Oregon Metro GDP, 2016
Hot on the heels of metro level household income data, we now get the annual metro GDP figures as well. In stepping back and looking at the bigger picture, the metro GDP growth looks like one would...
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REPORT: Portland in Transition
The new Census data shows that the recovery and expansion has now reached all corners of the Oregon economy. Not all industries, segments of the population, or regions are in the same place given each...
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Large Metro Transformations (Graph of the Week)
Recessions have a way of reorienting or even restructuring an economy. Some industries fall back, others step forward. These changes propel entire regional economies ahead of others depending upon the...
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Recreational Marijuana Sales (Graph of the Week)
The big news this morning is that the federal government, led by Attorney General Jeff Sessions is set to rescind the so-called Cole memo, or memos as the case may be. For those who don’t know, the New...
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Fun Friday: Insular States vs Cosmopolitan, Origin vs Destination
Oregon’s ability to attract and retain young, skilled, working-age households is one of, if not the key driver of the regional economy over the long-run. If you look at the current population — among...
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Oregon Wages, A 2017 Update
The labor market is tight, the share of prime working-age Oregonians with a job is back to mid-2000s rates across all levels of educational attainment. While this is certainly good news, the question...
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Marijuana: Falling Prices and Retailer Saturation?
Recreational marijuana prices are falling and, in much of the state, retail options are plentiful. It appears to be a cannabis consumer’s dream, or at least what voters hoped for back in 2014 when...
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Update on Rural Housing Affordability
As our office documented a year ago, housing affordability truly is a statewide challenge. It is a major concern in our fast-growing urban areas, and throughout rural Oregon as well. In fact, rural...
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Fun Friday: Rockin’ the Suburbs
Previously we took a look at Oregon’s very precedented growth. Today’s population gains are on par with the growth seen pretty much every year during the 1990s technology-led expansion. In many parts...
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Oregon’s Trade with China (Graph of the Week)
This morning I am giving a presentation to the Port of Portland Commission. The overall presentation focuses on the economic outlook. However, given current events, tweets, and the Port’s missions and...
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Lower-Income Households Not Yet Fleeing Portland Region
Over the past decade the number of lower-income households in the Portland region has fallen by nearly 60,000, or by 15%. Here, we’re defining lower-income to not just be those in poverty, but...
View ArticleEconomic Headwinds and Tailwinds
This morning I have the privilege of being a part of Portland State’s Northwest Economic Research Center‘s forecast breakfast. NERC, of course, is headed by Tom Potiowsky who used to oversee our office...
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Oregon High-Tech Outlook
This post circles back on the recent Headwinds and Tailwinds presentation I gave at the Northwest Economic Research Center’s forecast breakfast last month. It also ties directly into the previous post...
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Data Visualization, A Few Notes
Periodically I get questions about data visualization and good sources to learn more or improve. There are myriad options out there including countless books and websites. However, in an effort to pare...
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Oregon’s Food Economy
When our office discusses Oregon’s world class strengths, we tend to focus primarily on things like timber, semiconductors, and migration, with only passing reference to the others, like UAVs and food...
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Welcome to the Trade Skirmish
Tariff proposals and enactments continue to build in recent months. The situation has not risen all the way to a full-blown trade war, or at least not yet. But we need to call it something. Trade...
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Fun Friday: Air Conditioning
During recent heat waves I have seen social media posts on how hot a person’s home was at bedtime, or what the outside temperature is in the middle of the night. Personally, I certainly remember the...
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The Pacific Northwest in Expansion
Recently I gave a broader, regional outlook talk that included many attendees who were either from Washington or had clients or offices north of the border. Overall there is not a massive difference...
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Fun Friday: New Construction Lot Size
The Census Bureau recently released the 2017 Survey of Construction where they look at the characteristics of new construction, both single-family and multifamily. The National Association of Home...
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Urban Oregon Household Income, 2017 Update
This morning the Census Bureau released the 2017 American Community Survey data. There is a ton to unpack here and even more once the microdata is released later this year. In the coming months our...
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