Oregon has four unemployed people for every available job–and that’s an improvement. The state Employment Department reports more job openings in the fall of 2013 than at any time since the recession began, about 32,300 in all.

Despite the high number of job seekers, employers are telling the Employment Department more than half of the jobs they’re offering have been difficult to fill. The reasons they gave included unfavorable working conditions, a lack of qualified candidates, and few applicants for jobs.

PRP