Total payroll employment in Josephine County declined by 100 jobs in June.
According to the Oregon Employment Department, there were 33,028 people working in Josephine County last month for a seasonally adjusted jobless rate of 6.6%, which was up from 6.4% in May and up from 5.7% in June 2024.
Private education & health services lost 140 jobs over the month, with smaller declines estimated in other services and professional & business services -- both down by 20 jobs. Leisure & hospitality was the only private-sector industry with a notable gain -- up by 70 jobs.
Government employment showed a net decline of 20 jobs, with local government education falling by 50 jobs, and local government excluding education and federal government posting slight gains.
Over the past year, payroll employment in Josephine County was down by 780 jobs, a sharp loss of 2.8%.
Employment fell over the year in most private-sector industries. The most notable declines occurred in leisure & hospitality (-180), private education & health services (-160), retail trade (-130), financial activities (-130), construction (-70) and wholesale trade (-30). Wood products manufacturing bucked the downward trend, gaining 60 jobs since June 2024. Government jobs fell by 50 over the year.
