Can’t find a job.

Have faith. The Oregon Employment Department sees modest job growth between now and 2018. Many of those expected job openings are due to the need to replace retiring workers, the department said in a press release.

For the Coos and Curry counties region, job growth is expected to be around 9 percent.

 The department’s forecasters expect economic growth to add more than 160,000 jobs statewide or 9 percent over the decade. This growth is slightly less than the 10 percent gain that occurred between 1998 and 2008 and much slower than in many prior 10-year periods. The manufacturing industry is the only broad sector expected to lose jobs between 2008 and 2018.

•  Education and health care services are expected to grow by 23 percent and add nearly 50,000 jobs to meet the needs of the state’s growing and aging population.

•  Professional and business services will grow by about 14 percent or almost 28,000 jobs.

•  Leisure and hospitality will add 12 percent or 21,500 jobs.

•  The slowest-growing sector is construction with 1 percent growth over the decade, followed by information with 2 percent growth.

•  Manufacturing likely will decline by 3 percent and lose over 5,000 jobs.

In addition to the 163,000 job openings due to economic growth, department forecasters expect an additional 430,000 openings to replace current workers who leave.

Office and administrative support, service occupations, and professional and related occupations represented almost half of all employment in 2008 and 52 percent of projected growth job openings.

 The high-paying, high-demand occupations include registered nurses, general managers, truck drivers, accountants, wholesale sales representatives, supervisors of retail and office workers, and postsecondary teachers, among others.

 Projections for the state’s 15 workforce regions show the fastest growth in Central and Southern Oregon. Metro areas are expected to grow at close to the statewide average and half of the state’s job growth will be in the Portland area.