Senior Economic Analyst Gail Krumenauer says 6,300 of those vacancies were in Central Oregon. "For the spring of 2015, we saw a big bump in the number of vacancies in Central Oregon. The numbers in Central Oregon were boosted by vacancies for wildland firefighters and also for leisure and hospitality."

 

Krumenauer says the newly released state report reflects a record-setting number of openings. "53,300 job vacancies in the spring of 2015, that’s the most that we’ve ever found in the history of the Oregon job vacancy survey. That’s more than we found even in the spring of 2008." The spring statistic is 6,400 more vacancies than a year ago.

 

Many employers reported having a more difficult time finding the workers they need. Krumenauer says Central Oregon reported the highest share of difficult-to-fill job openings in the state, at 71%. Businesses most commonly reported a lack of applicants or a lack of qualified candidates as the primary reason for having difficulty filling vacancies.

 

The ratio of unemployed Oregonians to vacancies is now two to one.