By Oregon Business and Industry,
Oct. 21, 2026 — Oregon Business and Industry released the Oregon Jobs Report covering the third quarter of 2026. The report, which reflects state job postings from July to September, 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.
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:
- Oregon job postings continue to trail the national average. State postings slipped 0.5% quarter-over-quarter in September while postings gained nationally by 1.2%. Oregon postings were down 0.6% year-over-year while national postings grew by 5.7%.
- Oregon’s median full-time salary for job postings has outpaced the national average, due largely to changes in the job mix. The state’s median full-time posted salary reached $67,600, 9.9% above the national median. The state median for posted salaries grew 12.1% year-over-year, more than double the national increase of 5.6%. However, the state’s rising median reflects steep drops in postings for low-wage restaurant and retail listings.
- Oregon’s unemployment rate remains well above the national average. The state jobless rate in September was 5%, a year-over-year drop of 0.3 percentage points. It remains well above the national rate of 4.2%.
- Concentrated growth. Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro was the only one of 10 tracked metro areas to experience quarter-over-quarter growth in job postings. It was one of only two tracked metro areas to experience year-over-year growth in job postings, the other being Hermiston-Pendleton.
- Sector shifts. Year-over-year postings increased the most for employees in production (12.7%), business services (12.6%) and transportation (9.7%) and fell the most for employees in nursing (-11.2%), education (-10.1%) and restaurants (-9.9%).
- Ironic bright spot. Postings in Hermiston-Pendleton remained 32% above last year, driven largely by Amazon’s hiring for data center development. Ironically, this sector – one of Oregon’s employment bright spots – is the one Gov. Kotek targeted in October by ordering a lengthy pause in permitting activity. The median salary for jobs posted in the Hermiston-Pendleton area in September, $63,045, exceeded the median in every tracked metro area except Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, which was $67,506.
Notable quote: “Taken together, Q3 2026 points to a market that is stable in total but uneven underneath. Retail and restaurant employers added seasonal postings, production and transportation roles kept expanding, and demand for nursing, education, and restaurant staff weakened. The fourth quarter will show whether holiday hiring adds much beyond Q3’s seasonal ramp or the slowdown in service roles continues.”
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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