Byline: Tim Christie The Register-Guard

Lane County's seasonally adjusted jobless rate declined to 5.5 percent in August, continuing a trend of slow but steady job growth, the Oregon Employment Department said.

The decline of 0.3 percentage points from July was a little better than

The jobless number decreased by 389 from July, and by 784 from August 2005. A total of 165,734 people were in the labor force last month in Lane County, while 9,649 were without work.

Total nonfarm payroll decreased by 700 from July to August, compared with a typical increase of 400. Rooney said the decline was the result of some schools letting some employees go later than usual, so they showed up in August instead of July. But there were still 2,000 more local jobs in August than there were a year ago.

Total public sector employment was down 1,100. Federal government jobs were unchanged. State government lost 600 jobs, and local government dropped 500, both due mostly to summer break at local schools.

Private sector employment increased by 400 jobs. Seasonal construction accounted for 100 of those jobs, while business and professional services - such as temporary firms and call centers - accounted for 300, he said.

Retail trade increased by 300 jobs. That sector of the economy has seen a lot of churn as existing stores relocate and businesses open, but is now becoming more settled, Rooney said.

The durable goods sector, which includes high technology, machinery manufacturing and transportation equipment such as RVs, declined by 100 jobs.

After rapid job growth of 2 to 2.5 percent annually in 2004 and 2005, when Oregon was emerging from a recession, job growth has slowed to about 1 or 1.5 percent since January, Rooney said.

Coming out of a recession, employers typically have spare capacity, making it easy to hire people. But when that capacity fills up, companies need to make a capital improvements to expand further, which is a riskier proposition, Rooney said.

The county's unemployment rate was slightly higher than the statewide rate of 5.2 percent and higher than the national seasonally adjusted rate of 4.8 percent.

The Register-Guard