Employers in Deschutes County created nearly 2,000 jobs between November 2012 and November 2013, according to the Oregon Employment Department.

And as 2013 closed, Deschutes showed the largest drop in unemployment of Oregon’s eight metropolitan statistical areas. The county’s seasonally adjusted November jobless numbers, although still above the national average of 7 percent, fell another 0.3 percent to 9.1 percent unemployment. Local unemployment data for December are scheduled for release Jan. 27.

Hiring in construction, manufacturing, retail and professional services continued to improve, indicating the private sector leads the recovery from the 2008 recession, said state Regional Economist Damon Runberg. However, the labor pool itself is an issue, he added. “We’re seeing it shrinking for a lot of reasons.”

Baby boomers are retiring, but a historically high number of young adults are not working. Some may be competing with older workers for jobs that typically the young would fill; others may be opting for school rather than work. Finally, the smallest group of unemployed, Runberg said, are those who’ve simply given up looking for work.

“The other thing that’s kind of interesting, temporary employment services were doing really well during the last year,” Runberg said Monday.

A strong demand for temp services may indicate a transition period in which employers staff for an increasing amount of work, but don’t feel confident enough to hire for a long-term boom.

Michael Reed, president of Staffing Partners, a firm with offices in Bend, Eugene and Beaverton, said his company has seen steady growth, inching up 5 percent to 15 percent every year since “the big dip” in 2008.

About half his business statewide is in office work: clerical and administrative positions, Reed said. Light industrial and warehouse workers make up another quarter; seasonal workers in construction and landscaping make up the balance. That’s pretty much in line with Runberg’s assessment of Central Oregon’s economic strengths.

“Construction has been one of the better stories we’ve seen in the last six months,” he said. That sector actually lost jobs in the fall — a seasonal expectation. “Nobody wants to be framing houses in November,” Runberg said.

The upbeat end to 2013 corrected for slow job growth at the start. As the housing recovery continued and inventory diminished, housing starts picked up. That, in part, drove demand for services from law firms, engineers and others, Runberg said. Professional and business services added 500 jobs over the year ending in November in Deschutes County.

In neighboring Crook and Jefferson counties, the growth trend continued, according to employment numbers. However, those counties remain burdened with high unemployment, 11.7 percent in Crook and 10.2 percent for Jefferson, both numbers seasonally adjusted.

On the up side, Crook experienced the largest over-the-year drop of any county in Oregon, down from 13.7 percent in November 2012, according to the Employment Department. Jefferson was right behind Crook; it counted 11.9 percent unemployed in November 2012.

— Reporter: 541-617-7815,jditzler@bendbulletin.com