[5]
Oregon Business and Industry [6],
Oregon Business and Industry released the Oregon Jobs Report [7] covering the second quarter of 2026. The report, which reflects state job postings from April to June, is produced by Colorado-based Aspen Tech Labs [8], 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 second 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, including the importance of data center construction to the state’s job growth:
- Oregon job postings in the second quarter increased by 5.3% over the first quarter of 2026. Nationally, job postings increased by 1% over the same period.
- Year-over-year job postings in Oregon declined slightly, dropping 0.5% from June 2025 to June 2026. National numbers remain stronger, with job postings increasing by 3.7% year over year.
- The median full-time salary tied to Oregon job postings in June 2026 was 3.8% higher than the median full-time salary in June 2025. Nationally, the median full-time salary for the comparable period grew by 6.1% – a rate that exceeded Oregon’s by 61%. However, Oregon’s median full-time salary ($65,520) exceeded the national median ($62,234) by 5.3%.
- Oregon’s unemployment rate continues to exceed the national average. In May 2026, Oregon’s unemployment rate was 5.2% compared with a national rate of 4.2% in June.
- Oregon’s hiring market during the second quarter of 2026 was shaped by concentration rather than broad expansion. Thanks to Amazon’s data center buildout, for example, Hermiston-Pendleton has become one of the state’s fastest-growing hiring markets. In fact, the combined IT postings in Boardman and Hermiston exceeded those in the Portland area. Meanwhile, job postings for AI specialists grew nearly 300% year-over-year statewide, though the sample size is small.
- Postings for healthcare jobs – recently an area of strength for Oregon – weakened significantly during the second quarter. Such postings increased by less than 1% compared with the first quarter and fell about 1% year-over-year. Posting for nursing jobs were flat during the second quarter and declined 11% year-over-year.
- Notable quote: “Taken together, Q2 2026 points to a job market increasingly shaped by anchor employers and infrastructure investment. Where those investments land, hiring follows. Where they don’t, the underlying softness in professional and healthcare roles continues to quietly accumulate.”
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 [9] and produces reports through the OBI Research and Education Foundation [10], including those examining Oregon’s business tax burden [11], its regulatory environment [12], manufacturing sector [13] and educational funding structure [14].
Go here [7] to read this quarter’s Oregon Jobs Report.