LinkedIn Workforce Report | United States | June 2024
With over 214 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 May 2024.
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
- Hiring accelerates modestly as new grads hit the market: Nationally, across all industries, hiring accelerated by 3.2% from April to May and decreased 6.0% compared to May 2023. This is the biggest increase in hiring we have seen all year and the smallest year-over-year decline seen since August 2022. While fairly modest, any pickup in hiring is welcomed as we see new graduates entering and reentering the labor market.
- Broad industry hiring gains in May: Hiring increased in 14 of 20 industries from April to May; a sizable improvement on the 7 industries that saw increases in last month’s report. The industries with the strongest acceleration in May were Education (+8.2%); Oil, Gas, and Mining (+6.4%); and Government Administration (+6.2%). Hiring decelerated the most month-over-month in Wholesale (-7.4%), Real Estate and Equipment Rental Services (-10.3%) and Holding Companies (-13.7%). The Technology, Information, and Media sector continues to lead hiring stabilization with a 2.2% increase from April to May and hiring in the industry is now up 1% year-over-year, increasing over the prior year’s pace of hiring for the first time since May 2022. While the overall hiring rate has accelerated 2.4% since January 2024, the hiring rate for Technology, Information, and Media has accelerated 7.7% over the same period.
Broad hiring gains across nearly all metros: Hiring increased in 18 of the 20 metro areas we track in May. While hiring remains down in most metros we track compared to one year prior, hiring is up year-over-year in Atlanta (+1.6%) and the San Francisco Bay Area (+1.1%) as the prominent Technology, Information, and Media industry stabilizes. In terms of month-over month changes, the cities with the most notable hiring acceleration in May 2024 were Chicago (+7.9%); Boston (+7.8%); and Atlanta (+7.7%). Hiring slowed only in St. Louis (-0.4%) and Phoenix (-0.6%).
Hiring
The LinkedIn hiring rate is a measure of hires divided by LinkedIn membership. Nationally, across all industries, hiring in the U.S. was 3.2% higher in May 2024 compared to last month April 2024. National hiring was 6% lower in May 2024 compared to last year May 2023.
The industries with the most notable hiring shifts month-to-month in May 2024 were Education (8.2% higher); Oil, Gas, and Mining (6.4% higher); and Government Administration (6.2% higher).
Table 1: Hiring on LinkedIn, by Industry, through May 2024
Industry | May-23 | ··· | Feb-24 | Mar-24 | Apr-24 | May-24 | MoM% Change | YoY% Change |
Accommodation and Food Services | 0.97 | ··· | 0.94 | 0.95 | 0.94 | 0.97 | +3.5 | +0.1 |
Administrative and Support Services | 0.91 | ··· | 0.91 | 0.90 | 0.87 | 0.84 | -3 | -7.3 |
Construction | 1.27 | ··· | 1.17 | 1.18 | 1.17 | 1.22 | +4.1 | -4.2 |
Consumer Services | 1.17 | ··· | 1.18 | 1.15 | 1.19 | 1.16 | -1.7 | -0.5 |
Education | 1.22 | ··· | 1.16 | 1.12 | 1.16 | 1.26 | +8.2 | +2.5 |
Entertainment Providers | 0.99 | ··· | 0.93 | 0.92 | 0.91 | 0.94 | +4.1 | -4.4 |
Farming, Ranching, Forestry | 1.20 | ··· | 1.08 | 1.09 | 1.10 | 1.12 | +1.8 | -6.7 |
Financial Services | 1.09 | ··· | 0.99 | 0.97 | 0.97 | 1.02 | +5 | -6.7 |
Government Administration | 1.21 | ··· | 1.12 | 1.10 | 1.08 | 1.15 | +6.2 | -4.9 |
Holding Companies | 0.91 | ··· | 0.81 | 0.67 | 0.87 | 0.75 | -13.7 | -17.8 |
Hospitals and Health Care | 1.22 | ··· | 1.12 | 1.11 | 1.10 | 1.15 | +4.8 | -5.7 |
Manufacturing | 1.04 | ··· | 0.90 | 0.89 | 0.91 | 0.91 | -0.4 | -13 |
Oil, Gas, and Mining | 1.09 | ··· | 0.89 | 0.87 | 0.87 | 0.92 | +6.4 | -15.4 |
Professional Services | 1.00 | ··· | 0.90 | 0.89 | 0.87 | 0.92 | +5.2 | -8.4 |
Real Estate and Equipment Rental Services | 1.06 | ··· | 0.95 | 0.97 | 0.96 | 0.86 | -10.3 | -18.6 |
Retail | 0.90 | ··· | 0.85 | 0.84 | 0.82 | 0.83 | +0.8 | -7.6 |
Technology, Information and Media | 0.87 | ··· | 0.87 | 0.86 | 0.86 | 0.88 | +2.2 | +1 |
Transportation, Logistics, Supply Chain and Storage | 1.16 | ··· | 1.02 | 1.01 | 1.01 | 1.02 | +0.8 | -12.6 |
Utilities | 1.41 | ··· | 1.12 | 1.22 | 1.16 | 1.16 | +0.6 | -17.3 |
Wholesale | 0.86 | ··· | 0.83 | 0.85 | 0.84 | 0.78 | -7.4 | -9.7 |
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.
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.
