This Friday, state offices across Oregon will be closed.

Need to get your vehicle tags renewed at the DMV? Tough luck.

Hoping to speak with someone about your employment benefits? Try again.

Want to apply for food stamps or other welfare assistance? Come back on Monday.

As annoying as these closures are this is the reality of our state's economic climate.

Friday is the first of a handful of furlough days state employees will be taking between now and May of 2011. Ten days are scheduled - two of those days are the day after Thanksgiving (2009 and 2010), when most offices are voluntarily closed or staffed by one or two unlucky employees in a food coma.

According to the Oregon Department of Administrative Services, each day these offices are closed it will save the state about $2 million.

This Friday's furlough day is coming on the heels of the unemployment rate released on Monday. For September, Oregon's unemployment rate dropped to 11.5 percent, which was 0.5 percent down from August.

Despite how bad things are, they could get worse.

It's worth noting that these furlough days do not stand alone. Managerial salary freezes, pay cuts and other cost-saving measures have also been set in motion to help agencies get through the recession with their employees rather than without them.

The state is using a scalpel to get through this rough patch rather than a hatchet. If the options are taking a few furlough days or laying off hundreds of state employees, we'll take the furlough days.

State employees are on the short end of this deal by having to give up a work day without pay, but unfortunately all workers are making sacrifices right now.

It doesn't matter if you are in the public or private sector, you have been touched by this recession.

Without the furlough days the alternative could be more people standing in the unemployment line, which is something Oregon does not need right now.

Let's keep as many people working as possible.