During 2015, Oregon’s private employers were looking to fill about 48,000 job vacancies at any given time, according to new annual figures from the Oregon Employment Department’s Job Vacancy Survey. The Job Vacancy Survey provides a snapshot of the labor market job seekers face.

The 48,000 job vacancies in 2015 represented a slight increase from 45,000 vacancies in 2014. The increase between 2013 and 2014 was much larger, increasing 40 percent from the 32,000 vacancies in 2013. This smoothing out of the job vacancy trend is consistent with general strength in Oregon’s economy. Unemployment rates in 2015 were well below the long-term average for the state and job growth has been stronger the past two years.

Most Oregon job vacancies were full-time and permanent. Less than one-quarter of the 2015 vacancies required education beyond high school. However, well over half of vacancies required previous experience. Employers continued to have difficulty filling more than half of their job vacancies as the economic expansion continued, many due to a lack of applicants. The share reported as difficult to fill was the highest yet in 2015, at 59 percent.

More information about Oregon’s job vacancies and data for nine sub-state areas can be found at QualityInfo.org in the Job Vacancy Survey box on the Publications page.