Portland-area economy weakens Q1 - San Francisco Business Times:

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percent, an accelerating decline compared tothe 13.5 percen (revised) drop in the fourth quarted of 2008. Of the nine indicators included inthe index, six declined significantly, said Tim Duy, director of the Oregonb Economic Forum and a UO adjunct assistant Labor market trends continue to deteriorate. Help-wantex advertising in The Oregonian fell during the consistent with a decrease inhiring Similarly, initial unemployment claims continued to rise, reaching a montyh average of 16,819 claims. Non-farm payrollse continue to fall as under the dual forces of increased layoffs and slackhirinyg demand; payrolls stand 3.9 percentr lower than year-ago levels.
The expected slowdown in lodging activity finally came to said Duy,with estimated lodging revenure (seasonally and inflation adjusted) down 15.4 percengt from the fourth quarter. Passengert traffic at Portland International Airport was effectively unchangesd from theprevious quarter. Housing marketxs were generally weaker. Housing sales were effectively unchanged, whilr average days-on-market fell, partially offsetting a particularly sharp rise in the fourth quarter of attributable to the intensification of the financia l crisis and unusualweathert conditions, said Duy. Ongoing declines in the in point to continued economicv deterioration in thePortland region, he added.
Signsw of stabilization are difficult to he said; expectations for a firming of economic activity in the seconx half of 2009 are largely based on some tentative signs of stability in the national economy. Moreover, the impacgt of fiscal and monetaryg policies should become more evident as theyear progresses. the pace of the recovery is expected to be subduec as the economy adjusts to an environment less dependenton debt-supporteed consumer spending growth.