PORTLAND (AP) - The recession is over, Oregon has the fifth-best job growth rate in the nation, and most of the major industries in the state are showing steady improvement.

So why are candidates for governor spending so much time talking about Oregon's economy?

Because many Oregonians say they have not felt the upturn - leaving them worried about their jobs, health benefits, pensions and housing.

Democratic Gov. Ted Kulongoski has made the economy his No. 1 campaign issue, taking at least partial credit for the 80,000 jobs created since he took office.

But Lane County Commissioner Peter Sorenson, who's challenging Kulongoski for the Democratic nomination, cites “stark statistics” showing that despite the improving economy, too many people are falling behind financially and cannot afford to support a family.

“There are 700,000 people getting food out of emergency food boxes in Oregon,” Sorenson said.

The Republican gubernatorial contenders are focused on the economy as well.

“It starts with jobs and the economy,” said Kevin Mannix, a former state legislator and former Oregon Republican Party chairman. “Voters are much more concerned with basic pocketbook issues than anything else.”

Social issues such as gay marriage and assisted suicide may grab the headlines, but GOP contender Ron Saxton says that's not what he hears people talking about as he travels the state.

“When I go from community to community, one of the first questions I get in each place is, 'What are you going to do to help with our economy? Because, boy, we're really hurting,”' said Ron Saxton, a Portland lawyer and former Portland school board member.

Another GOP contender, state Sen. Jason Atkinson of Jacksonville, says boosting the economy is one of his top campaign issues, and he's called for a repeal of Oregon's capital gains tax that he says discourages new business investment in the state.

Portland pollster Tim Hibbitts says the candidates' focus on economic issues despite the uptick in Oregon's economy reflects voters' pessimism about their own jobs - or chances of finding a job.

“I don't think voters are terribly confident, despite what the economists may tell them,” Hibbitts said.

Hibbitts notes that poll results show the vast majority of Oregon voters in 2006 already believe they are either worse off financially or haven't made any progress since last year.

“That's not a good sign when we're supposedly in an economic recovery,” he said.

Kulongoski led off the year with a keynote address at the annual Oregon economic summit in Portland, saying that most of the other major campaign issues this year - education, health care, transportation and infrastructure - are all part of the larger issue of how to grow and sustain the Oregon economy.

The governor led the effort to improve the state infrastructure with a $2.5 billion transportation bill approved by the Legislature in 2003 to repair Oregon roads and bridges and create an estimated 9,000 jobs, said Cameron Johnson, spokesman for the Kulongoski re-election campaign.

But the governor has given special emphasis to improving schools and public universities. “He sees investment in education as being directly linked to the future of Oregon's economy,” Johnson said.

Atkinson said voters want to hear candidates say more about how they can make that education more affordable.

“The hardest thing you can do in Oregon right now is be a high school graduate and try to afford to go to college in this state,” Atkinson said.

Mannix said he would focus more on boosting financial incentives to invest in Oregon by eliminating the state capital gains tax and the so-called “death tax” on inheritance - both also top priorities for Atkinson.

Mannix would also bring in new leadership for state agencies he said need to be “re-engineered” to promote economic development and cut back on “a jungle of regulation.”

Saxton, too, said he would bring new managers to Salem to cut the cost of state government. Like Mannix, Saxton would invest in maintenance and improvement of the state infrastructure, including roads, bridges and ports.

Sorenson, a Democrat, puts investing in education at the top of his priority list to improve the economy. But he would also push for elimination of the state corporate tax “kicker,” noting that about two-thirds of the taxes returned to companies under the law ends up going out of state.

He also would boost investment in alternative energy sources, including solar power in Eastern Oregon.