Spotlight on Oregon

Business Sectors
Over the past twenty years Oregon has decreased its reliance on jobs in the resource sectors like forestry, agriculture, and fishing by growing its high-tech industry. Despite the high-tech collapse in the late 1990s, which left Oregon with significant job loss between 2000-2003, the high-tech industry still plays a critical role in Oregon’s economy.

Unemployment Rate and Job Vacancy Survey
For the past several months, Oregon’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has remained around 10.5 percent (this is slightly higher than the national seasonally adjusted rate of 9.7).

In spring 2009, Oregon’s Employment Department implemented a Job Vacancy Survey that resulted in the following findings:

Total Job Vacancies 18,242

Top Job Vacancies by Industry:
Heath Care and Social Assistance (5,744)
Accommodation and Food Services (2,535)
Education Services (1,554)
Retail Trade (1,506)

Top Job Vacancies by Occupation:
Registered Nurses (1,004)
Retail Sales Professionals (556)
Nursing Aides (483)

Of all the job vacancies, 71 percent required prior work experience and 48 percent required education beyond high school. Almost half of Oregon’s job vacancies were in the Portland tri-county area.

Public Corporations
Oregon is home to its fair share of large public corporations like Nike Inc., Lithia Motors, FLIR Systems, StanCorp Financial Group, Columbia Sportswear, Harry and David Operations Corporation, and many others.

To explore careers and industries and view estimated and projected employment figures specific to Oregon, go to Career Transitions “Explore Careers” and set Oregon as your state target. For more information on the Oregon Employment Department Job Vacancy survey, click here.