New Hires in Oregon’s Healthiest Industry Tend to Have Higher Wages

Many people looking for work right now are considering jobs in the health care sector. That's because jobs in health care are often considered "recession proof". Oregon's health care and social assistance sector as a whole has seemed immune to the job losses occurring in other industries. In fact, the health care and social assistance industry gained 5,200 jobs over the past 12 months, a gain of almost 3 percent, while the entire private sector lost nearly 6 percent of its total employment.

Acording to data from the Local Employment Dynamics (LED) program, new hires in the health care and social assistance sector tend to make more than their peers in other industries - about $2,078 per month compared to $1,921 in all industries. Newly hired hospital workers tend to fare even better, bringing home an average of $3,216.

Check out the full text of this article, written by Nick Beleiciks. The article was recently featured in the Statesman Journal as well.

To find more information about occupations in the health care industry, see our Occupational Information Center!