LinkedIn Workforce Report | United States | January 2024

Published on Jan 5, 2024

With over 211 million LinkedIn members in the United States, we have unique insight into the real-time dynamics of Americans starting new jobs and moving to new cities. This month’s LinkedIn Workforce Report looks at our latest national data on hiring and migration trends through December 2023. For more insight into localized employment trends in 20 of the largest U.S. metro areas, check out this month’s reports for: Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland-Akron, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Nashville, New York City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C.

Our vision is to create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce. Whether you’re a worker, an employer, a new grad, or a policymaker, we hope you’ll use these insights to better understand and navigate the dynamics of today’s economy.

Key Insights

With stabilization in the horizon, 2023 ends with big monthly hiring gains: Nationally, across all industries, hiring increased 5.5% in December compared to November – the largest month-over-month increase over the past 12 months - after posting declines the prior month. Hiring is down 9.9% in December compared to last year. This year-over-year decline is the smallest over the past 12 months. The pace of hiring remains unchanged from July (+0.4%), suggesting stabilization in the labor market after a gradual cool down since Spring 2022. These positive trends are boosting hopes that the Federal Reserve will reach their inflation target without a significant rise in unemployment (a “soft landing”).
Hiring jumps across industries while Tech hiring continues to stabilize: Hiring increased in 19 of 20 industries in December, an increase from 7 in the previous month. Industries with the strongest month-over-month growth were Retail (+13.5%), Technology, Information, and Media (+9.8%), and Manufacturing (+9.6%). Transportation, Logistics, Supply Chain and Storage (-1.8%), Oil, Gas, and Mining (+0.3%), and Entertainment Providers (+0.3%) were the weakest in terms of month-over-month hiring. And since June, hiring is up across nearly half the industries we measure with Retail (+18.6%), Wholesale (+18.1%), Administrative and Support Services (+17%), and Consumer Services (+15.5%) seeing significant acceleration.

In 2023, Technology, Information, and Media led the way across all industries in hiring stabilization. While hiring slowed going into the summer, the sector saw increased activity in the last quarter of 2023 and culminated with positive gains in December. Hiring in Technology, Information, and Media is now up 11.6% compared to July (vs overall hiring which is virtually unchanged over the same period).

Year-end brings hiring gains across nearly all metros; while year-over-year hiring moderates: Hiring increased in 19 of 20 metro areas we track, compared to 2 last month. Seattle (+11.4%), San Francisco Bay Area (+10.8%), and Boston (+9.6%) had the strongest month-over-month hiring. The areas that saw month-over-month hiring declines were Cleveland-Akron (-1.4%), Nashville (+0.7%), and New York City (+1.2%).
In contrast, year-over-year hiring declined in all metros we track, a continuation from the past two months. The strongest year-over-year performing metros are Nashville (-5.4%), Miami-Ft. Lauderdale (-5.7%), and Seattle (-7.4%). Those that continue to struggle compared to a year ago are St. Louis (-19%), Minneapolis-St. Paul (-16.3%), and Los Angeles (-16%).

Hiring

The LinkedIn hiring rate is a measure of hires divided by LinkedIn membership. Nationally, across all industries, hiring in the U.S. was 5.5% higher in December 2023 compared to last month November 2023. National hiring was 9.9% lower in December 2023 compared to last year December 2022.

The industries with the most notable hiring shifts month-to-month in December 2023 were Retail (13.6% higher); Manufacturing (9.8% higher); and Technology, Information and Media (9.8% higher).

Table 1: Hiring on LinkedIn, by Industry, through December 2023

Industry	Dec-22	···	Sep-23	Oct-23	Nov-23	Dec-23	MoM% Change	YoY% Change
Accommodation and Food Services	1.00	···	0.90	0.93	0.92	0.93	+0.7	-7.4
Administrative and Support Services	1.04	···	0.85	0.91	0.86	0.93	+7.9	-10.3
Construction	1.14	···	1.11	1.16	1.07	1.10	+2.8	-3.3
Consumer Services	1.09	···	1.04	1.11	1.10	1.11	+0.8	+2.5
Education	1.17	···	1.06	1.10	1.05	1.08	+3.3	-7.6
Entertainment Providers	0.92	···	0.86	0.87	0.84	0.84	+0.3	-8
Farming, Ranching, Forestry	1.23	···	1.04	1.02	0.97	1.00	+2.3	-18.9
Financial Services	1.12	···	0.91	0.94	0.86	0.90	+4.7	-19.8
Government Administration	1.12	···	1.02	1.08	1.04	1.07	+3	-3.7
Holding Companies	0.91	···	0.69	0.72	0.69	0.72	+4.7	-20
Hospitals and Health Care	1.13	···	1.03	1.07	1.02	1.06	+3.7	-6.2
Manufacturing	0.98	···	0.87	0.91	0.82	0.90	+9.8	-7.6
Oil, Gas, and Mining	0.97	···	0.86	0.87	0.83	0.84	+0.3	-13.5
Professional Services	0.97	···	0.83	0.84	0.82	0.83	+0.7	-14.7
Real Estate and Equipment Rental Services	1.08	···	0.94	0.95	0.94	0.96	+2.2	-11.5
Retail	0.96	···	0.74	0.75	0.75	0.85	+13.6	-11.2
Technology, Information and Media	0.91	···	0.77	0.81	0.75	0.82	+9.8	-10.1
Transportation, Logistics, Supply Chain and Storage	1.19	···	1.03	1.00	0.96	0.95	-1.9	-20.5
Utilities	1.32	···	1.15	1.16	1.08	1.10	+1.5	-16.9
Wholesale	0.96	···	0.84	0.86	0.84	0.89	+6.4	-7.5

Methodology: “Hiring Rate” is the count of hires (LinkedIn members in each industry who added a new employer to their profile in the same month the new job began), divided by the total number of LinkedIn members in the U.S. By only analyzing the timeliest data, we can make accurate month-to-month comparisons and account for any potential lags in members updating their profiles. This number is indexed to the average month in 2016 for each industry; for example, an index of 1.05 indicates a hiring rate that is 5% higher than the average month in 2016.

Migration

The U.S. cities losing the most people are College Station-Bryan, TX; Urbana-Champaign, IL; and Gainesville, FL. For every 10,000 LinkedIn members in College Station-Bryan, TX, 117 left in the past 12 months.

The U.S. cities gaining the most people are North Port-Sarasota, FL; Tampa Bay, FL; and Charlotte, NC. For every 10,000 LinkedIn members in North Port-Sarasota, FL, 107 arrived in the last 12 months.

Check out our reports for Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland-Akron, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Nashville, New York City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, St. Louis and Washington, D.C., to see which jobs are open.