Hillsboro: September Jobless Rate Falls to 4.0%, Lowest in Federal Data Since November 2024
- Hillsboro's unemployment rate fell to 4.0% in September, down from 5.4% a year earlier, according to preliminary estimates from the U.S.
- That is 901 fewer unemployed residents, a drop of 25.5% (our calculation from the BLS figures).
- While the jobless count fell, the city's labor force barely moved.
Hillsboro’s unemployment rate fell to 4.0% in September, down from 5.4% a year earlier, according to preliminary estimates from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics that are not seasonally adjusted. The estimate counts 2,629 residents as unemployed, compared with 3,530 in September 2025.
That is 901 fewer unemployed residents, a drop of 25.5% (our calculation from the BLS figures). The September rate is also the lowest in the BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics series for Hillsboro since November 2024, when it stood at 3.8%.
Fewer jobless, about the same workforce
While the jobless count fell, the city’s labor force barely moved. BLS put it at 65,257 residents working or looking for work in September, compared with 65,450 a year earlier. Over the same months, the number of employed residents rose from 61,920 to 62,628.
By our calculation, that is 193 fewer people in the labor force and 708 more with jobs. The 62,628 figure is the highest monthly count of employed residents on the BLS data page for Hillsboro, which starts in January 2016.
Washington County’s figures moved the same way. The county series shows a 4.1% rate in September, down from 5.2% a year earlier. It counted 14,060 unemployed residents, 3,976 fewer than the 18,036 a year before, a 22.0% drop (our calculation). The county labor force was 345,574, compared with 345,800.
Thirteen months of city and county rates
Between those two Septembers, the rate rose and fell. The table below is our compilation of the BLS city and county series from September 2025 through September 2026.
| Month | Hillsboro labor force | Hillsboro unemployed | Hillsboro rate | Washington County rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sept. 2025 | 65,450 | 3,530 | 5.4% | 5.2% |
| Oct. 2025 | not published | not published | not published | not published |
| Nov. 2025 | 65,392 | 3,326 | 5.1% | 4.9% |
| Dec. 2025 | 64,929 | 3,230 | 5.0% | 4.8% |
| Jan. 2026 | 64,468 | 3,726 | 5.8% | 5.6% |
| Feb. 2026 | 64,404 | 3,513 | 5.5% | 5.4% |
| March 2026 | 64,274 | 3,302 | 5.1% | 5.1% |
| April 2026 | 63,946 | 2,929 | 4.6% | 4.6% |
| May 2026 | 64,160 | 2,988 | 4.7% | 4.6% |
| June 2026 | 64,416 | 3,253 | 5.0% | 5.0% |
| July 2026 | 64,532 | 3,148 | 4.9% | 4.9% |
| Aug. 2026 | 65,281 | 3,057 | 4.7% | 4.7% |
| Sept. 2026 (preliminary) | 65,257 | 2,629 | 4.0% | 4.1% |
October 2025 is blank in both series, with a BLS footnote that reads “Data unavailable due to the 2025 lapse in appropriations.” The city rate peaked at 5.8% in January and has fallen each month since June.
Why September is compared with September
The monthly figures carry a caveat. In the BLS glossary, seasonal adjustment removes “predictable patterns over a year,” and these figures have not been adjusted. In every year from 2019 through 2025, Hillsboro’s September rate came in below its August rate (our check of the series). Comparing one September with the last sets that pattern aside.
The city numbers are also model-based estimates, not a head count, and BLS describes its local methods as “nonsurvey.” According to the BLS Handbook of Methods, it estimates the county first and then divides it among cities of more than 25,000 people. It does that using where unemployment insurance claimants live, plus Census population data. The agency’s technical note says local estimates are re-estimated each year with updated inputs. September’s figures are labeled preliminary.
Regional jobs, counted another way
Beyond Washington County, the unadjusted September rate was 4.1% for the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro metro area and 4.3% for Oregon, in BLS data. The national rate was 4.0%, according to the BLS metro area release issued Oct. 28.
The Oregon Employment Department’s Oct. 20 Portland-area release measures something else: jobs, counted where employers are located rather than where workers live. It shows semiconductor and electronic component manufacturing jobs in the metro area at 26,600 in September, down 1,400 from 28,000 a year earlier. That metro area includes Clark and Skamania counties in Washington state, and the release does not break the figure out for Hillsboro.
Total metro payroll jobs rose 0.6%, or 7,200, over the same 12 months, not seasonally adjusted. The release says health care and social assistance grew 3.0%, faster than any other broad industry. It does not name any employer behind the semiconductor decline.
Genentech, for one, has announced future hiring in the city. Its Aug. 20 announcement says a new plant at its Hillsboro campus is expected to create 250 manufacturing jobs, with commercial operations expected in 2031. A city report lists the company as a new applicant for an Enterprise Zone tax break.
The October comparison will be missing
The state agency’s schedule sets Nov. 24 for its October metro and county figures, and BLS lists Dec. 2 for its next metro area release. When Hillsboro’s October rate arrives, the series as published now has no October 2025 figure to compare it with. The most recent October on record for the city is October 2024, at 3.7%.
Top image: File photo, 2014: land planned for industry near Huffman Street and Brookwood Parkway in north Hillsboro. Photo: M.O. Stevens, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped).
