It's hardly news for those pounding the pavement, but state economists confirmed Tuesday that hiring in Oregon remains stagnant, mimicking a listless national job market that can't seem to get off the couch.

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said Tuesday that Oregon's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate nudged up to 9.6 percent in August, essentially unchanged from 9.5 percent in July. Meanwhile, the U.S. seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained flat at 9.1 percent in August.

David Cooke, an economist with the Oregon Employment Department, said there's little statistical difference between the Oregon and national rates. They're both ugly, with Oregon's rate still significantly above peak unemployment in the last recession, which hit 8.6 percent in June 2003.

"If you look back over the last 50 years, there have not been very many times when the unemployment rate was above 9 percent," Cooke said. "The situation is very difficult. ... Good workers just aren't able to find a good job."

The employment doldrums have policymakers -- right up to President Barack Obama -- doing back flips as they struggle to gin up a strategy to boost hiring while holding the politically charged line on government spending.

Bill Conerly, an economist based in Lake Oswego, said the traditional stimulus formula -- increased government spending and lower taxes -- is largely off the table as politicians and voters fight bitterly about how to cut the federal deficit.

"There's no silver bullet," he said. "All we're doing is waiting for the national economy to show some strength. Oregon is well poised to join the party if the party will ever start."

Oregon's seasonally adjusted non-farm employment has been flat for five months. The private sector has continued to post anemic gains but has lost the robust springtime energy that brought hope of a full-blown recovery.

Government employment, meanwhile, declined by 7,700, or 2.6 percent, during the same five months, reflecting the switch from stimulus-fueled spending to austerity budgeting.

Schools have taken the brunt of those cuts, with local government education showing a loss of 5,500 jobs since August 2010, a 6.8 percent decline. The impact of those cuts has taken form in bigger class sizes, fewer offerings and, in many cases, reduced or frozen pay.

Another 4,000 Oregon school jobs could be lost this year, bringing the total cuts in that sector to some 10,000 since peak employment levels in 2008.

There are some relative bright spots in the job market. The educational and health services sector, which includes hospitals and private universities, has gained 8,300 jobs over the last year. Professional and business services, including temp services, spiked early in the year.

Louisa Waldman, regional vice president for the temp employment firm Robert Half International, said her anecdotal impression is that hiring has increased significantly in the Interstate 5 corridor and that job seekers are getting picked up faster.

The state has added 9,000 leisure and hospitality jobs during the past year. Even the manufacturing sector is up 3,300 jobs, though that's off a diminished base.

"There is recovery ongoing in many major industry groups," said Cooke, the state economist. "But much of that took place in October through February. Growth has not been as rapid in recent months."