With the summer tourism season approaching, unemployment figures have dropped in Coos and Curry counties, primarily due to gains in the leisure and hospitality sectors.

Total payroll employment in Coos County increased by 100 in March, bringing the total unemployment rate to 7.3 percent, down from 7.6 percent in February. While wood product manufacturing and government employment rose slightly in March, the biggest job gains were in the leisure and hospitality sectors, which saw employment rise by 90. In Curry County, there was a gain of 60 jobs in the leisure and hospitality sector.

“Employment figures are in some ways cyclical in Coos and Curry Counties,” said Mike Wilson, workforce analyst for the Coos Bay office of the Oregon Employment Department. “In the winter, the number of jobs in the area's tourism industries drops, and as the weather starts improving they go up again. Gains in the leisure and hospitality sectors are pretty seasonal.”

The sectors of Coos County's economy that saw the biggest losses in March were manufacturing, which lost 50 jobs; and food manufacturing, which lost 60 jobs. In Curry County, there were only slight losses in local government, retail trade and other sectors. Curry County's March unemployment rate was 7.7 percent, almost identical to the rate in February.

Overall, Curry County has seen unemployment rise slightly over the last 12 months, while unemployment in Coos County has dropped by nearly a full percentage point since March 2005. Slight gains in many sectors of Coos County's economy have contributed to this, as well as the big gain of over 140 new jobs in professional and business services over the past 12 months. In Curry County, job gains in professional and business services, construction and retail trade over the past year have been offset by losses in state government, federal government and leisure and hospitaltity jobs.

Unemployment in Coos and Curry counties remains higher than the state average, which is currently 6.1 percent; and the national average, which is currently at 4.8 percent.