Oregon Office of Economic Analysis

This is largely just a note given some research I pulled together this morning and to be used as a reference if you need it. The following table contains location quotients for Oregon’s manufacturing sectors for 2011. Location quotients compare the relative size of industries. In this case, the table compares the size of the various manufacturing sectors in Oregon to their size at the national level. A value of 1 indicates that the industry in Oregon is the same relative size as it is at the national level. Values greater than 1 indicate that Oregon has a larger concentration of our employment within that industry than the nation does, while values less than 1 indicate the state has a lower concentration of jobs in that particular sector.

Overall, Oregon’s manufacturing sector’s LQ is 1.15 meaning manufacturing employment is 15% larger, in relative terms, in Oregon than at the national level. The two sectors in which Oregon has the highest LQs are Wood Products and Computer and Electronic Products, which is no surprise given the state’s industry structure and the largest companies/employers. Even though the Wood Products industry has been in significant decline for the past 20+ years, Oregon still accounts for nearly 6% of the national total industry employment, resulting in a location quotient of 4.65. The state’s high technology concentration – dominated by the computer chip industry – also yields a large LQ. On the flip side, the state does not have as many Machinery or Transportation Equipment producers, relative to the nation, and thus the LQs are significantly less than 1.