The unemployment rates in Central Oregon area have declined during the month of March.  The information on the decline was released by the Employment Department for the state earlier in the week. For the month of March, the unemployment rate in Oregon was at 8.6 percent, which is just a little over the nation’s unemployment average, which his currently at 8.2 percent. The unemployment rate also dropped a few points from the previous month, in February.

The different counties in the Central Oregon area seemed to do fairly well for the month of March. In Crook County, the unemployment rate was at 13.5 percent, which is still relatively high. However, this is the lowest the unemployment rate that has been seen for Crook County since November of 2008, which shows that progress, is, in fact, being made. In the span of one year, from March 2011 to March 2012, the unemployment rate in Crook County declined by a total of 1.6 percent. During March of 2012, an approximate 80 jobs were added, which was 10 jobs more than what was to be expected, as 70 jobs are usually added during the month of March. Both the private sector and the government sector added more jobs during this period of time.

For Deschutes County, the unemployment rate was at 10.9 percent for March of 2012, which shows a decline of 0.3 percent from the following month of February, when the unemployment rate was then at a higher rate of 11.2 percent. Overall, from March of 2011 to March of 2012, the unemployment rate in this county has dropped by a total of 1.6 percent. Between the months of February and March, a total of 570 jobs were added. The private sector added the vast majority of jobs for the county, accounting for 540 jobs, while the government added approximately 30 jobs. Some of the industries in the private sector in which jobs were added include leisure and hospitality, health services, and utilities. Over the span of the year, it seems the private sector has added the most jobs.

For Jefferson County, the unemployment rate during the month of March was at 12.4 percent, which was a slight decline from its 12.6 percent rate during the previous month, in February. For the span of a year, between March of 2011 and March of 2012, the unemployment rate dropped by a total of 0.7 percent. Between the months of February and March, a total of 20 jobs were added, which matched up with expectations that were made for the county. The jobs added were health services and business services. Jobs in the government sector seemed to remain flat during the month.