New data shared by Portland economic research firm ECONorthwest has illuminated the serious impacts of COVID-19 by geography and industry. The firm reports that the risk of the metro area unemployment rate raising to 20-25% is high, and businesses there are losing a collective $4 billion per month. Overall, 250,000 jobs are at risk in the tri-county area during the economic shutdown. Read more on the ECONorthwest website.
DHM Research, a Portland opinion research firm, recently polled Oregonians about their financial situations and how they feel about the government’s response. We encourage you to look at the full data set on their website. Since 2011, DHM has been asking Oregonians how worried, or not, they are about their personal financial situation. The percentage who said that they are somewhat or very worried peaked at 69% in 2012. This fell slowly but steadily over the last decade, to a low of 50% in late 2019. Now, 63% say that they are worried – and this is expected to increase as Oregon deals with the ensuing economic recession.