Oregon’s labor market is showing more signs of softening.

The state had just under 50,000 job vacancies last fall, according to new data from the Oregon Employment Department. That’s the lowest number of open positions since the summer of 2020, when hiring ground to a halt as COVID-19 set in.

Overall, Oregon’s labor market remains relatively strong. The state added nearly 20,000 jobs in 2024 and the unemployment rate finished the year at 4.1%. Unemployment has been near or below that level for more than four years.

But economists have seen growing cause for concern.

Companies increasingly leave positions open when workers quit or retire. And the rate of unemployed workers exhausting their 26 weeks of benefits before finding a new job has been climbing.

Most alarmingly, mass layoffs returned to Oregon last year.

Employers were loath to cut jobs in the pandemic’s immediate aftermath, when a broad labor shortage made it very difficult to hire anyone. But financial setbacks at Intel, Nike, Oregon Health & Science University and other large employers resulted in thousands of job cuts.

While the state continued adding jobs last year, most of that growth was concentrated in the health care sector. Other big industries, notably manufacturing, shed jobs during 2024.

Employment department economist Anna Johnson notes that there are now 1.7 unemployed Oregonians for each job opening. That’s near the highest point since the pandemic and far above the national rate of roughly one unemployed person per job vacancy.

Oregon’s labor market remains solid by historical standards but most recent trends are pointing toward growing weakness, especially at some key employers and industries.