Central Oregon Economic Insights—September 2024

Economy in Central Oregon

By Andrew Grimoldby | Workforce Analyst/Economist, East Cascades Oregon Employment Department

September in View:

The nation’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased slightly from 4.2% in August to 4.1% in September, and at the statewide level, the unemployment rate remained steady at 4.0%.

In Deschutes County, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased from 3.7% in September 2023 to 4.0% in September 2024. Crook County decreased from 5.9% to 5.7%, and Jefferson County remained steady at 4.7%.

Topic of the Month: Occupations with the Highest Number of Job Vacancies in the East Cascades, 2023

Every quarter the Oregon Employment Department conducts their statewide Job Vacancy Survey, with detailed regional results coming out yearly. In the East Cascades, there were a reported 9,024 job vacancies at any given time in 2023. The number of vacancies declined in 2023 after two years of record highs, but the vacancies are still higher than pre-pandemic levels. The industries representing the most job vacancies were health care and social assistance (2,452), leisure and hospitality (1,835), and manufacturing (974). Over half (59%) of vacancies required no education beyond high school, and 55% of vacancies required previous experience. The average wage for all vacancies in the East Cascades was $23.62.

Additionally, employers surveyed in the East Cascades reported that 70% of the vacancies were difficult to fill. Of the 2,311 (28%) vacancies that were open for 60 days or longer, 90% were reported as difficult to fill. Average hourly wages generally increase along with education requirements for job vacancies, and high paying vacancies are more likely to require education beyond high school. Over 80% of the job vacancies with a reported hourly wage of $30 and higher required education beyond high school.

To learn more about regional and statewide job vacancies, you can visit our Job Vacancy Survey section on the publication page of QualityInfo.org, where you can also find an article on Oregon job vacancies.