Portland’s persistent job losses, stagnant population and anemic housing construction have collectively tipped the city into a recession, economist Mike Wilkerson said Thursday, warning that conditions are deteriorating rather than improving.
“The conditions here are unlike what we see in any other metro” area, Wilkerson said at the Portland Metro Chamber’s annual State of the Economy breakfast. He said the region’s decline is broad-based and foundational.
“Unfortunately, it’s not one sector. It’s all of the sectors,” said, Wilkerson, of the Portland research firm ECONorthwest. The chamber commissioned Thursday’s report…