In September, Deschutes County saw the largest seasonally adjusted loss of jobs in a single month since the end of the Great Recession, according to state figures released Tuesday.

However, Damon Runberg, regional economist for the Oregon Employment Department, said there was more to the story than the numbers suggest.

“That was a huge surprise,” Runberg said of the job losses.

Such a huge surprise, in fact, that Runberg said the most likely explanation was an issue with the data. The figures in the report represent preliminary figures from survey data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which calculates unemployment rates for Oregon’s six metropolitan statistical areas. The Bend-Redmond MSA covers all of Deschutes County.

The state Employment Department publishes unadjusted employment data by industry for every county in Oregon, as well as data adjusted for changes in seasonal hiring.

In September, 74,110 people were employed in Deschutes County, about 1,200 fewer than the previous month, according to the unadjusted data. By comparison, the county saw a seasonally adjusted decline of 660 jobs in September.

Runberg said much of the loss can be attributed to seasonal declines in sectors like leisure and hospitality, which shed 1,180 jobs in September.

“You always have that big drop in September,” Runberg said.

However, in recent years the seasonal losses have been offset by seasonal growth in government jobs, as schools add teachers and other employees for the beginning of the school year.

In September 2014, Deschutes County added more than 1,050 local government jobs, according to The Bulletin’s archives. Twelve months later, the county added 440 jobs, less than half of the figure from the year before, according to the data provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Runberg added that this difference accounted for much of the seasonally adjusted decline of 660 jobs.

According to the Employment Department’s report, 3,760 people were employed last month in Deschutes County’s education sector, 220 fewer than in September 2014.

However, that survey data doesn’t reflect the information on the ground. Alandra Johnson, communications specialist for Bend-La Pine Schools, said the district had added 84 employees since September 2014.

“I feel pretty sure we haven’t seen that sort of decline,” Johnson said of the survey data.

Ron Paradis, spokesman for Central Oregon Community College, felt similarly. He said the school saw enrollment drop this semester, leading to a decline in full-time teachers. But he added the drop was not enough to support the numbers in the release.

Graham Slater, research division director for the Employment Department, said September is a difficult month to estimate. If a school district doesn’t report its survey data in time, Slater said it can throw off the estimates significantly. Runberg added that incorrect estimates are typically fixed within a month.

“Simple data errors are not outside the norm,” Runberg said.

The numbers had a minimal effect on the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Deschutes County, which rose from 6.5 percent in August to 6.6 percent in September.

Elsewhere in Central Oregon, Crook County’s seasonal unemployment rate remained the same, at 8.8 percent, while the unemployment rate rose slightly in Jefferson County, from 7.5 percent to 7.7 percent.

— Reporter: 541-617-7818, shamway@bendbulletin.com