Oregonians are getting a little more frugal, spending data shows

The free-spending days that followed the pandemic are over.

Oregonians’ spending grew by just 5.1% last year, according to recently published data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. That’s down sharply from 2021, when consumer spending grew by more than 13% as federal stimulus payments loosened up purse strings — and as inflation drove up the cost of most everything.

Consumer spending in Oregon has closely tracked national spending since the start of the pandemic, according to the federal data, though Oregon spending fell a bit more steeply last year.

Inflation fell to just 2.9% in 2024, which means that spending was increasing faster than the prices of the items that people were buying. That suggests a degree of underlying economic optimism, both in Oregon and across the countr