Labor Force

Oregon’s labor force rebounded from a pandemic recession decline and reached new highs in 2024. Labor force growth has been relatively slow though, compared to historical trends. 

There are at least two potential contributors to slower labor force growth in Oregon. The first is increasing retirements. The largest group of Oregon adults who are not in the labor force are retired. The number of people reported as not being in Oregon’s labor force due to retirement rose from 748,000 in 2019 to a record, annual average high of 786,000 in 2023, an increase of 5%. From 2013 to 2023, the number of Oregonians not in the labor force due to retirement grew by 160,000 or 26%. 

In addition to an aging workforce and more retirements, a decline in net in-migration could be another cause for the slowdown in labor force growth. Net in-migration has meant larger population gains than Oregon would otherwise have seen through natural increase. Each year from the mid-1980s until 2021, more people moved to Oregon from other places than left in any given year. While not all who have migrated to Oregon over the decades were working age, many were. So as birth numbers slowed and more workers reached retirement, Oregon was still able to add workers to the labor force. 

Historically, net in-migration was high in Oregon during economic expansion periods. Yet in the mid- to late-2010s, net in-migration started declining during a time of relatively strong job growth and low unemployment. In 2021, for the first time in almost four decades, population estimates showed negative net migration, leading to a drop in Oregon’s population. This may have contributed to the slower labor force growth and a tighter labor market for Oregon employers in recent years. 

Slower labor force growth has also helped to keep Oregon’s unemployment rate relatively low, despite slow job gains in 2023 and 2024. Oregon’s unemployment rate returned to its record-low rate of 3.4% in April 2023. Although the unemployment rate has risen slightly from that low, the rate stabilized between 4.0% and 4.2% between October 2023 and August 2024. That’s still a low unemployment rate for Oregon by historical standards.​

Job Openings

Oregon employers reported 72,800 job openings at any given time in 2023. This is a 30% decline from the record high of 104,000 vacancies seen in Oregon in 2022. Prior to 2021, the highest level of job vacancies previously seen in Oregon was 60,700 vacancies in 2017. 

The volume of vacancies in 2023 exceeded pre-pandemic levels, but some of the characteristics Oregon employers were looking for didn’t change much during the pandemic recession and recovery. A typical job vacancy tended to be for a full-time, permanent position. 

2023 represented a significant slowdown in hiring from the rapid jobs recovery seen in 2021 and 2022, and showed up in several ways in the job vacancy survey. It took less time to hire in 2023, with 25% of job vacancies open longer than 60 days. In 2021 and 2022, about two-thirds of job vacancies were open longer than 60 days. As the expansion slowed down after two years of rapid hiring, it also became less difficult for employers to fill their job openings. In 2023, employers reported difficulty filling 61% of vacancies, as opposed to 72% in 2021 and 2022. 

Nearly two-fifths of job vacancies (39%) required education beyond high school. This was the highest amount of vacancies requiring education beyond high school since 2019 (34%). During the intense job recovery in 2021 and 2022, only about 30% of job vacancies required education beyond high school. 

Another significant change from 2021 and 2022 were the percentage of job vacancies requiring previous experience. In 2021 and 2022, around 50% of job openings required previous experience. By 2023, 58% of vacancies required previous job experience. Although job vacancy levels came down from recent highs, and unemployment rose slightly in Oregon during 2023 it’s still difficult for employers to find enough workers for all their job openings. As of spring 2024, there were three unemployed workers per two job openings. Nationally, there were more job vacancies than unemployed people for more than three years.

Oregon’s Top Ten Private Sector Industries by Employment in 2023

(Source: Oregon Employment Department, Workforce and Economic Research Division)

​

1. Retail trade (208,500)
2. Food services and drinking places (154,900)
   
3. Durable goods manufacturing (133,800)
   
4. Construction (117,800)
   
5. Professional and technical services (111,400)
   
6. Financial activities (103,600)
   
7. Administrative and waste services (103,600)
   
8. Ambulatory health care services (99,300)
   
9. Transportation, warehousing (78,300)
10. Wholesale trade (78,200)​