While some Hermiston residents are finding themselves newly unemployed, the good news is there are jobs available in Oregon.

According to the state employment office, private employers in Oregon had 58,000 job vacancies at any given time during 2018.

Employers reported about 29% of those jobs saw zero or too few applicants to fill, and about 57% of the jobs were identified as “difficult to fill” due to factors such as the job’s hours or qualifications.

According to the employment department’s report, the largest number of difficult-to-fill vacancies were personal care aids, followed by truck drivers. By industry, the largest vacancies were in health care and construction. According to the agency, companies “reported challenges filling essentially all job vacancies for forest and conservation workers, plumbers, construction supervisors, printing press operators, and intercity and transit bus drivers.”

Less than half of the vacancies reported in 2018 required an education beyond a high school diploma. Forty-three percent of the positions paid less than $15 an hour. In Eastern Oregon the average wage for job vacancies was $14.81 an hour.

The report was put together through a survey of 13,800 private employers in Oregon.