Oregon’s unemployment rate dropped from 7.0 percent in November to 6.7 percent in December, the lowest level since August 2008, right before the worst days of the financial crisis which led to the Great Recession.

Jobs grew rapidly again in December. During the last three months of 2014, employment grew by a total of 24,300, the largest three-month gain since comparable records began in 1990. Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 8,200 in December. This followed a revised gain of 8,700 in November, with growth not as strong as the originally estimated gain of 11,200. These monthly job totals are produced each month by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.