SALEM — Oregon’s labor market appears to be at an inflection point.

The number of job vacancies in the state has fallen in each of the past two quarters, according to new survey data from the Oregon Employment Department. The state now has 86,000 job openings, down nearly 20% from last spring’s peak.

The number of unemployed Oregonians, meanwhile, has been creeping upward and matched the number of job vacancies last fall — one unemployed Oregonian for each vacant job in the state.

That’s still a very tight labor market. On average, over the past decade, Oregon has had more than two unemployed people for each job opening. Those conditions reversed last year as the state’s worker shortage grew particularly acute and job vacancies surpassed the number of unemployed Oregonians for the first time on record.

Though the number of Oregon job openings remains high by historical standards, the total is now at its lowest point since early 2021 — a sign the state’s labor squeeze may finally be easing.

“Businesses have been rapidly hiring since the summer of 2020 and may have finally been able to get back to adequate staffing levels and are not hiring as frequently anymore,” said Anna Johnson, economic analyst with the employment department.

Alternately, she said, inflation and the cooling economy may mean some businesses may no longer need as many workers as they did during the post-pandemic boom — or may not been able to afford hire them.

“There has been some discussion around ‘hiring fatigue’,” Johnson wrote in an email. “Businesses could still need workers, but with low unemployment and still high levels of job vacancies across many industries and areas of the state, the difficulty filling those vacancies could have caused businesses to take a break from hiring.”

Oregon’s most recent job vacancy data is from last fall. But the state has published unemployment data through December, which shows Oregon unemployment continued rising.

The state counted 99,000 unemployed in December, low by historical standards but up 30% from July. And already this year, Oregon employers have had a string of notable layoffs — at Intel, manufacturing toolmaker Lam Research, software company Exterro, vacation rental manager Vacasa and at railcar maker Gunderson.

That drumbeat of January job cut news followed a full year when Oregon employers made exceedingly few layoff announcements. Pair the uptick in job cuts with the drop in job openings and it’s clear Oregon’s job market is undergoing a shift.

Jobs may not be as plentiful going forward, even as more people find themselves looking for work. That’s a sign of a cooler economy, and potentially a less pleasant one for workers.

Still, Johnson notes that Oregon job vacancies remain high by historical standards. Fall job openings were 50% above the average over the prior decade.

“Vacancies still remain elevated, even with the recent declines,” Johnson notes. “And hiring remains difficult, with businesses reporting 75% of job vacancies across the state as difficult to fill.”