Oregon Jobs Projected to Increase 6% by 2034

December 18, 2025

Oregon’s total employment will grow by 140,600 jobs between 2024 and 2034, according to new projections from the Oregon Employment Department. Employment projections reflect modest job growth in the economy, although many additional job openings are expected due to the need to replace workers who leave their occupations.

In 2024, there were 2,196,000 jobs in Oregon. The projected 6% increase in employment between 2024 and 2034 includes private-sector gains of 125,500 jobs (+7%), growth of 7,700 jobs in government (+2%), and an additional 7,400 self-employed Oregonians (+5%).

Fastest-Growing Sectors

All broad sectors in Oregon are expected to add jobs by 2034 except for federal government which is projected to decline by 3% (-1,000 jobs). The private health care and social assistance sector is projected to increase the fastest, growing by 13%. Private health care and social assistance is also projected to add the largest number of jobs over the next 10 years (+40,400 jobs). This growth is attributed to the aging of the state’s population, longer life expectancies, and an expected rebound in the state’s long-term population growth.

Within health care and social assistance, the fastest growth is anticipated in ambulatory health care services (such as doctor and dentist offices, chiropractors, physical and speech therapists, and other specialists) and nursing and residential care facilities, each adding 17%.

The construction and professional and business services sectors are projected to grow at the second-fastest rate, gaining 10% each. Growth in construction can be attributed to construction of buildings (+11%) and specialty trade contractors (+11%), which includes establishments that perform specific construction-related activities such as site preparation, plumbing, painting, and electrical work. 

Growth in professional and business services is expected to be primarily driven by professional and technical services (+15%), which includes architectural and engineering services (+23%), computer systems design and related services (+10%), and legal services (-3%).Private educational services (9%), leisure and hospitality (9%), and information (7%) are also projected to grow faster than the economy as a whole from 2024 to 2034. 

Peak Employment

While overall employment in many sectors is expected to grow beyond their peak levels, manufacturing, financial activities, and retail trade will fall short of their peak employment levels by 2034. Manufacturing employment is expected to grow by 2% to 189,100 jobs. That's below its most recent peak of 207,300 jobs in 2006. Its all-time high was 228,600 jobs in 1998. Financial activities is expected to grow by 1% over the next decade to 101,900 jobs. The sector peaked at 106,600 jobs in 2006. Retail trade employment is expected to remain flat over the decade, growing to 204,500 jobs (+900 jobs or +0%). Retail trade employment peaked in 2018 at 211,400 jobs. The manufacturing sector consists of industries growing in notably different ways. Some smaller components of manufacturing – such as machinery manufacturing (9%), primary metal manufacturing (7%), and fabricated metal product manufacturing (5%) – show higher projected growth rates. In 2020, primary metal manufacturing lost 17% of its jobs (-1,600 jobs). Meanwhile, paper manufacturing (-15%), fruit and vegetable preserving (-9%), and sawmills and wood preservation (-3%) show projected declines by 2034. Paper manufacturing, sawmills, and wood preservation experienced stable employment in 2020. Paper manufacturing includes pulp, paper, and paperboard mills and converted paper product manufacturing. 

Declining Industries

Several industry groups with the biggest projected losses relate to news media, production and distribution of various paper-related products, and retail trade. These include pulp, paper, and paperboard mills (-29%); newspaper, periodical, book, and directory publishers (-25%); and printing and related support activities (-20%).

Government

Projections show relatively modest growth in most broad areas of government. State government is expected to grow by 4% and local government is expected to grow by 3%. Employment in federal government is projected to decline slightly over the decade with a loss of 1,000 jobs (-3%). 

All Industries Need Workers

Whether growing rapidly or showing a net loss of jobs by 2034, all broad industries provide employment opportunities to Oregonians. The demand is clear in some industries. Slower growing sectors and declining industries still offer many job opportunities though, as there is a need to replace retiring workers or others leaving the industry. 

More information on 2024-2034 industry and occupational projections for Oregon and sub-state areas can be found at QualityInfo.org/projections.