By Oregon Business and Industry,
Oregon Business and Industry released the Oregon Jobs Report covering the first quarter of 2026. The report is produced by Colorado-based Aspen Tech Labs, which maintains a database of more than 10 million active job postings worldwide from over 350,000 employers. The report released today shows high-level hiring activity and advertised compensation across the state for the first quarter of 2026.
The information contained in the Oregon Jobs Report provides a useful, if limited, snapshot of statewide hiring activity. It is not intended to capture every piece of potentially relevant data – business closures and contractions, for instance – but what it does capture identifies important trends, many of which point to the continued relative weakness of Oregon’s economy:
- In step with national trends, Oregon job postings rebounded in the first quarter of 2026, increasing by 6.6% over the fourth quarter of 2025.
- Year-over-year job postings in Oregon declined significantly, dropping 10.4% from March 2025 to March 2026. National numbers are much stronger, declining only 2% from March 2025 to March 2026.
- The median full-time salary tied to Oregon job postings in March 2026 was 2.2% higher than the median full-time salary in March 2025. Nationally, the median full-time salary for the comparable period grew by 4.4% – twice the rate of Oregon’s.
- Oregon’s unemployment rate continues to exceed the national average. In January 2026 – the most recent month for which data was available – Oregon’s unemployment rate was 5.2% compared with a national rate of 4.3%.
- Health care continues to be an area of strength, accounting for a large portion of job postings and relatively high pay. However, health care is funded largely by other private-sector activity, from employer-covered insurance to government spending supported by tax dollars.
- Large companies produce a large number of jobs, demonstrating their importance to Oregon’s economy.
In its work to strengthen Oregon’s economy, OBI provides a range of timely and relevant data. In addition to the quarterly Oregon Jobs Report, OBI maintains the Oregon Scorecard and produces reports through the OBI Research and Education Foundation, including those examining Oregon’s business tax burden, its regulatory environment, manufacturing sector and educational funding structure.
Go here to read this quarter’s Oregon Jobs Report.
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