BY JACOB SZETO

PORTLAND - It has been a tight race between the two largest employment sectors over the last year in Oregon, but the “trade, transportation and utilities” sector continues to beat out the government sector by a narrow margin.

A table from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the government employed 299,000 Oregonians in February. The “trade, transportation and utilities” sector employed 311,700 Oregonians, 12,700 more than the government. That is a 4.25 percent difference, a decline from February of last year, when the difference was 6.32 percent. In terms of total employment, “trade, transportation and utilities” employed about 0.80 percent more than the government.

Oregon isn’t alone when it comes to government being one of the largest employment sectors. Montana’s government sector claimed the number one spot in January 2010. In fact, in 17 states, government was the largest employment sector this February.

The margins didn’t used to be so tight. In 2006 and 2007, the difference between the “trade, transportation andutilities” and government employment sectors was 17 percent. In 2008 it dropped by five percentage points to 12 percent. Since 2008, the margin has continued to shrink, now standing at a difference of 4.25 percent.

See sector by state 2009 table

See sector by state annual table