And they ain't comin' back

An alert reader pointed me to this story, which he heard on the radio but you can also read for free on the intertubes. While much of the rest of the state has largely recovered the job losses that came with the pandemic, Portland hasn't.

One place where jobs have been slower to return than the state as a whole is Multnomah County — home to the most people and most jobs in Oregon. The county has recovered only a little more than half of its lost jobs — 59% — according to numbers kept by the Oregon Employment Department. That slow recovery is dragging down the job numbers for the entire Portland metro area, including Southwest Washington, where 83% of jobs have recovered — slightly lower than the Oregon average of 87%....

The story is a little different in neighboring Clackamas and Washington counties, where 95% and 84% of jobs have returned, respectively....

State employment economist Gail Krumenauer says the list of reasons that the Portland area is taking longer to recover its lost jobs is “a bit longer and more varied” than for other parts of the state.

“With more corporate headquarters and more professional and technical services type jobs, it’s possible that Portland lags a bit more on the retail and restaurant type services because those office workers who would utilize those services on weekdays are still mostly (or at least more) in home office situations,” Krumenauer said in an email to OPB.

That is surely part of it, but there are other reasons. The two new local income taxes aren't helping. The basic breakdown of society on the streets isn't, either. And the arrogance of City Hall is too much to ignore.

Yes, the pandemic caused every employer to stop and think about what he or she is doing, and where. And a lot of them have decided that Portland isn't a good place to be conducting a business.

Who benefits? The suburbs, and the further out from the inner city, the better. I wrote about the sudden rise of Beaverton the other day, here. Just after posting that, I noticed that the Portland Jazz Festival has moved some of its events out to the 217 as well.

Yabba dabba doo.

If I were advising a business person who was thinking about moving a business to the Northwest, what would I say? First, above all, stay out of the City of Portland. Second, stay out of Multnomah County. Third, if possible, stay out of the Portland metro area on the Oregon side. Look at southwest Washington. See if you can make it work there.

That being my honest appraisal of the situation, here I still am. Inertia's a thing.