The law expands the current sex-based pay discrimination law and to include ten protected classes:

1. Race
2. Color
3. Religion
4. Sex
5. Sexual orientation
6. National origin
7. Marital status
8. Veteran status
9. Disability
10. Age

“Work of Comparable Character” Defined

Next, the law explicitly prohibits paying these classes less than others for “work of comparable character”, defined as work that requires “substantially similar knowledge, skill, effort, responsibility and working conditions in the performance of work, regardless of job description or title.”

Acceptable Pay Differences

There are a few exceptions for different compensation levels, however. The law states that the differences must be based on job-related factors, including:

• Seniority or merit
• Work location
• Education
• Training
• Experience
• A combination of these factors

Salary History Ban

The law also bans employers from screening applicants based on salary history. Also, employers are prohibited from inquiring about an applicant’s salary history from both the applicant and his or her previous employer.

Employers may not use salary history when setting compensation, except when establishing pay for a current employee during a transfer or hire to a new position within the same employer.

Employee Notices

Employers are required to provide notice to employees of the law’s requirements via labor law poster. If a poster is not feasible, employers can distribute a written notice to each employee personally by mail or email, or by including it with their paycheck. Also, the notice may be added to an employee handbook or manual in both print and electronic format.

View more here: https://www.govdocs.com/oregons-equal-pay-act-to-take-effect-jan-1-2019/

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First, a NAHB map showing how the typical lot size for new construction varies across the different Census divisions (the lowest level of geography for which data is available). The Pacific Division has the smallest lot size at 0.15 acres which is roughly 6,500 square feet.

Depending upon where you live here in Oregon a 6,500 square foot lot is either pretty big, fairly typical, or even small. For example, the classic single family parcel in the City of Portland is 5,000 square feet, and the most common residential zoning in the City of Bend, and City of Salem call for 4,000 square feet. That said, Beaverton has a lot of 5,000 and 7,000 square foot lots, Medford is primarily 7,000 and 10,000 square foot lots, while Lake Oswego has mostly 7,500, 10,000, and 15,000 square foot lots. Rarely are homes built on larger parcels than these, both due to development codes and the fact that most new construction takes place in urban areas, or on the urban fringe. New construction in rural areas tends to be on larger lots — measured in acres, not tenths of acres — but represents a small share of overall construction activity.

In terms of how big these new homes are and how much they cost, there is somewhat of a pattern based on lot size. Generally speaking, with a larger lot, a bigger home is built, and the sale price is higher as a result. However when it comes to the small and medium-sized lots, there is less variation in the size of homes built and their sale price.

There are quite a few things going on here that we are not able to untangle with this particular data set. In the least charitable description, one could say developers are taking advantage of the smaller lots, building the same sized house and charging the same amount, or more, and thus reaping higher profits. However, these smaller lots tend to be more centrally located within urban areas where land values are higher due to stronger demand. As such, a more likely explanation would be that by spreading the high land costs across more housing units, builders are able to deliver the same sized house for roughly the same price as those built on somewhat larger lots that are likely less centrally locate. In this sense, smaller lot sizes act to help with affordability.

Read full article here: https://oregoneconomicanalysis.com/2018/09/07/fun-friday-new-construction-lot-size/

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Area prices were up 0.2 percent over the past month, up 3.6 percent from a year ago

Prices in the West Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), inched up 0.2 percent in August, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) The August increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter and education and communication. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U rose 3.6 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Energy prices jumped 13.4 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy increased 3.1 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

 

Food

Food prices rose 0.3 percent for the month of August. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home and prices for food away from home each rose 0.3 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 1.9 percent. Prices for food away from home rose 3.5 percent since a year ago, and prices for food at home rose 0.5 percent.

Energy

The energy index edged down 0.2 percent over the month. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-1.2 percent). Prices for electricity were unchanged, while prices for natural gas service increased 6.1 percent for the same period.

Energy prices jumped 13.4 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (21.6 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service increased 5.1 percent, and prices for electricity advanced 2.4 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy inched up 0.2 percent in August. Higher prices for education and communication (0.8 percent), apparel (0.5 percent), and shelter (0.4 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for new vehicles (-0.8 percent), household furnishings and operations (-0.6 percent), and medical care (-0.4 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 3.1 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (4.4 percent) and medical care (2.8 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decline in apparel (-0.4 percent).

The September 2018 Consumer Price Index for the West Region is scheduled to be released on October 11, 2018.

Technical Note

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of the average change in prices over time in a fixed market basket of goods and services. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes CPIs for two population groups: (1) a CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) which covers approximately 93 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 29 percent of the total population. The CPI-U includes, in addition to wage earners and clerical workers, groups such as professional, managerial, and technical workers, the self-employed, short-term workers, the unemployed, and retirees and others not in the labor force.

The CPI is based on prices of food, clothing, shelter, and fuels, transportation fares, charges for doctors’ and dentists’ services, drugs, and the other goods and services that people buy for day-to-day living. Each month, prices are collected in 75 urban areas across the country from about 5,000 housing units and approximately 22,000 retail establishments–department stores, supermarkets, hospitals, filling stations, and other types of stores and service establishments. All taxes directly associated with the purchase and use of items are included in the index.

The index measures price changes from a designated reference date (1982-84) that equals 100.0. An increase of 16.5 percent, for example, is shown as 116.5. This change can also be expressed in dollars as follows: the price of a base period “market basket” of goods and services in the CPI has risen from $10 in 1982-84 to $11.65. For further details see the CPI home page on the Internet at www.bls.gov/cpi and the BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 17, The Consumer Price Index, available on the Internet at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/homch17_a.htm.

In calculating the index, price changes for the various items in each location are averaged together with weights that represent their importance in the spending of the appropriate population group. Local data are then combined to obtain a U.S. city average. Because the sample size of a local area is smaller, the local area index is subject to substantially more sampling and other measurement error than the national index. In addition, local indexes are not adjusted for seasonal influences. As a result, local area indexes show greater volatility than the national index, although their long-term trends are quite similar. NOTE:Area indexes do not measure differences in the level of prices between cities; they only measure the average change in prices for each area since the base period.

The West Region covered in this release is comprised of the following thirteen states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Read full article here: https://www.bls.gov/regions/west/news-release/consumerpriceindex_west.htm

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In addition to a new standard minimum wage rate, the bill sets out a separate rate which will apply to employers located in the urban growth boundary of a metropolitan service district.  (Currently, only the Portland metropolitan area has an urban growth boundary.)  Finally, a third rate will apply within certain “nonurban” counties named in the bill:

Portland Metro

The Portland Metro rate applies to employers located within the urban growth boundary (UGB) of themetropolitan service district.

• Search by address to determine whether a site is located inside the UGB with Metro’s Urban Growth Boundary lookup tool.
• A map of the UGB is also available for download.

Nonurban counties

The nonurban rate applies to employers located within the following counties:

Oregon Minimum Wage Rates by County

NOTE: Employers located within Washington, Multnomah and Clackamas counties but NOT within the UGB will be subject to the standard rate, not the metro rate.

Read full article here: https://www.oregon.gov/boli/WHD/OMW/Pages/Minimum-Wage-Rate-Summary.aspx

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Read full article here: https://www.oregon.gov/boli/WHD/docs/2018-2019%20MW%20Poster.pdf

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