US October Workforce Report

LinkedIn Workforce Report | United States | October 2022

With over 191 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 September 2022. 

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

  • September hiring losses reverse August hiring gains: Nationally, across all industries, hiring in the U.S. was 8.9% lower in September compared to August and 12.7% lower compared to September 2021. Hiring is also 7.1% below pre-COVID hiring levels (February 2020). Hiring cooled meaningfully in late Spring, and there may be more cooling coming later this year. However, September's hiring decline is more of a reversal of the gains we saw in August versus viewing the latest declines as a clear continued downturn for the U.S. labor market. 
  • Hiring is Down Across a Majority of Industries: In September, we saw a broad decline in hiring across industries, with only one industry experiencing gains. The industries with the most notable hiring shifts month-to-month in September were Transportation, Logistics, Supply Chain and Storage (0.8% higher); Utilities (0.4% lower); and Consumer Services (1% lower). Four industries had hiring rates above their pre-COVID levels, shrinking from the nine industries that saw gains in last month’s report: Consumer Services, Financial Services, Transportation, Logistics, Supply Chain and Storage, and Utilities. Of particular note, we’re seeing an ongoing weakness in the Technology, Information and Media industry as we’ve seen hiring in that sector fall for six straight months. This largely aligns with layoff headlines being reported on this sector since early Spring.

  • Hiring Down Across All Twenty Metros: For the first time since June, hiring decreased month-over-month in each of the twenty metros we track. Only two metro areas, Miami and Houston, had hiring rates above their pre-COVID levels. While no metros saw hiring gains in September, hiring fell the least in Cleveland, Boston, and St. Louis. Looking at the other end of spectrum, the cities where hiring fell the most were Detroit, Los Angeles and Phoenix.

Hiring

The LinkedIn hiring rate is a measure of hires divided by LinkedIn membership. Nationally, across all industries, hiring in the U.S. was 8.9% lower in September 2022 compared to last month August 2022. National hiring was 12.7% lower in September 2022 compared to last year September 2021.

The industries with the most notable hiring shifts month-to-month in September 2022 were Transportation, Logistics, Supply Chain and Storage (0.8% higher); Utilities (0.4% lower); and Consumer Services (1% lower).

Table 1: Hiring on LinkedIn, by Industry, through September 2022

Industry

Sep-21

···

Jun-22

Jul-22

Aug-22

Sep-22

MoM% Change

YoY% Change

Accommodation

1.18

···

1.09

1.00

1.05

1.03

-1.7

-12.3

Administrative and Support Services

1.21

···

1.15

1.16

1.20

1.13

-5.8

-6.4

Construction

1.22

···

1.26

1.16

1.29

1.25

-2.5

+2.5

Consumer Services

1.11

···

1.11

1.12

1.14

1.13

-1

+0.9

Education

1.18

···

1.22

1.16

1.21

1.18

-2.3

-0.2

Entertainment Providers

1.16

···

1.02

0.95

1.03

1.01

-2

-13.1

Farming, Ranching, Forestry

1.20

···

1.21

1.17

1.30

1.12

-14.1

-6.8

Financial Services

1.36

···

1.25

1.17

1.29

1.24

-4.2

-8.7

Government Administration

1.12

···

1.09

1.02

1.11

1.04

-5.6

-6.9

Holding Companies

1.24

···

1.17

1.05

1.17

1.03

-11.6

-16.5

Hospitals and Health Care

1.25

···

1.21

1.16

1.30

1.17

-10.4

-7

Manufacturing

1.21

···

1.12

1.11

1.13

1.09

-4

-10.2

Oil, Gas, and Mining

1.07

···

1.08

1.02

1.09

1.06

-2.2

-0.7

Professional Services

1.33

···

1.16

1.08

1.16

1.10

-4.8

-17.2

Real Estate and Equipment Rental Services

1.29

···

1.22

1.13

1.18

1.07

-9.8

-17.3

Retail

1.06

···

0.93

0.92

0.96

0.95

-1.3

-10.2

Technology, Information and Media

1.43

···

1.32

1.29

1.26

1.22

-3.1

-14.7

Transportation, Logistics, Supply Chain and Storage

1.38

···

1.35

1.27

1.30

1.31

+0.8

-5

Utilities

1.05

···

1.06

1.22

1.37

1.36

-0.4

+30

Wholesale

1.13

···

1.10

1.03

1.07

1.00

-6.7

-11.5

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 State College-DuBois, PA; College Station-Bryan, TX; and Lafayette, IN. For every 10,000 LinkedIn members in State College-DuBois, PA, 248 left in the past 12 months.

The U.S. cities gaining the most people are Austin, TX; North Port-Sarasota, FL; and Tampa Bay, FL. For every 10,000 LinkedIn members in Austin, TX, 147 arrived in the last 12 months.

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