![\"FILE](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/JSOIMCMIKVHZTOEVTDE6PV3CVI.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
FILE – A nurse adjusts her gloves in a hospital in Grant’s Pass, Ore., Aug. 19, 2021. Oregon\u2019s private health care and social services industry is adding jobs at a faster rate than other industries in the state.<\/p>\n
Mike Zacchino \/ AP<\/p>\n
A combination of slow job growth and increasing unemployment is making it harder for out-of-work Oregonians to find a job. <\/p>\n
The exception may be Oregon\u2019s private health care and social services industry, which continues to add jobs at a faster rate than other industries in the state. <\/p>\n
The most recent quarterly jobs vacancy report <\/a>from the Oregon Employment Department showed nearly 14,500 job openings in private health care and social services during the last quarter of 2025. That\u2019s nearly one-third of all openings, and represents the only sector in Oregon with more than 10,000 jobs available, according to the report. <\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s hiring happening in all industries across the state,\u201d said Anna Johnson, senior state economist at the Oregon Employment Department and report author. \u201cBut health care and social assistance has nearly three times the number of job vacancies as the next highest industry.\u201d<\/p>\n The most recent survey comes as Oregon\u2019s economy is in rough shape. The unemployment rate has steadily ticked up over the last year to more than 5%<\/a>, surpassing the national average. At the same time, the state\u2019s population growth has stalled and the cost of housing has increased<\/a>. Those indicators warn that the state\u2019s economy is slowing. <\/p>\n Overall, the 46,300 job vacancies private companies posted toward the end of last year are 14% fewer vacancies than over the summer, and 7% fewer than the same period in 2024<\/a>, according to Johnson at OED. <\/p>\n \u201cWe do see a significant amount of seasonality in our hiring,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cThe winter \u2014 so the first quarter \u2014 usually slows down a little bit. Summer and fall, sometimes spring too, we tend to see more hiring. The fact that this was a drop for the fall stood out.\u201d<\/p>\n A third of job vacancies were in the Portland metro area. Private employers in the East Cascades region reported the next highest number. <\/p>\n