The unemployment rate for December across the three counties of Central Oregon remained relatively unchanged from November, according to a monthly report by the Oregon Employment Department.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Deschutes County was 3.6% in December, the same as it was in November, according to monthly unemployment data. The rate is just a fraction above the record low of 3.4% set before the pandemic, according to the report.

Deschutes County gained 500 jobs in December. The total non-farm employment for the county now stands at 96,950 jobs. Job growth was seen in the leisure and hospitality and private education and health services sectors of the economy.

In Jefferson County, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate also held steady in December. The rate was 4.4%, the third month that the rate matched the historic low set from October 2019 to the start of pandemic in March 2020.

Still, the county lost 80 non-farm jobs in December. The losses were concentrated in the leisure and hospitality sectors.

In Crook County, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate also saw little change in December, sticking to the 5.7%, compared to the same month the year before when the rate was 6.2%, according to the report.

The rate in December was just 1.2 percentage points above the record low set before March 2020 when the unemployment rate was 4.5% in the county, according to the report.

In December, Crook County lost 110 jobs, with most of the losses occurring in the public sector and leisure and hospitality sectors.

The unemployment rates are estimates, according to the report and will be revised, according to the report. The department plans to release a year in review report in March.