Oregon’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.7 percent in December, the lowest on comparable records dating back to 1976, 0.2 percent lower than November’s unemployment rate.

In December, many of Oregon’s workforce metrics set records, indicating an increasingly tight labor market. The number of people who were unemployed for less than half a year dropped to the lowest level in at least 18 years. The number of people who were unemployed due to a layoff also dropped to the lowest level in the past two decades. The broadest measure of labor under-utilization, called “U-6,” came in at the lowest on records dating back nearly two decades. This measure includes the unemployed, plus those who want a full-time job but who were working part-time due to the economy.