LinkedIn Workforce Report | United States | October 2025
With over 243 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 2025. 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.
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.
Key Insights:
National hiring dropped 3.5% in September and is down 8.7% from September 2024. It has now slowed more than 7% since the start of the year and is over 20% below pre‑pandemic levels (September 2019). Overall, LinkedIn data suggests a moderate increase in payroll employment of +55K in September.
From August to September, only 2 of 20 industries saw the pace of hiring increase: Farming, Ranching, Forestry (+7.7%) and Wholesale (+2.5%). Overall, hiring remains weak compared to last year. In September, the strongest year-over-year changes were Farming, Ranching, and Forestry (+2.4%), Technology, Information, and Media (-2.8%), and Construction (-3.2%). Government Administration shows the steepest decline, down 17.1% from last year.
Hiring fell in all 20 tracked metro areas from August to September. Atlanta (–3.5%), Phoenix (–1.1%), and Washington, DC (–1.1%) posted the smallest declines. The strongest year-over-year performance remained concentrated in the Sunbelt: Miami–Fort Lauderdale (+2.9%), Detroit (+0.3%), and Dallas–Fort Worth (–2.1%).
Hiring in the U.S.
The LinkedIn hiring rate is a measure of hires divided by LinkedIn membership. Nationally, across all industries, hiring in the U.S. was 3.5% lower in September 2025 compared to last month August 2025. National hiring was 8.7% lower in September 2025 compared to last year September 2024.
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED HIRING
The industries with the most notable hiring shifts month-to-month in September 2025 were Farming, Ranching, Forestry (7.7% higher); Wholesale (2.5% higher); and Financial Services (1% lower).
Table 1: Hiring on LinkedIn, by Industry, through September 2025
Industry | Sep-24 | ··· | Jun-25 | Jul-25 | Aug-25 | Sep-25 | MoM% Change | YoY% Change |
Accommodation and Food Services | 0.92 | ··· | 0.84 | 0.90 | 0.94 | 0.85 | -8.9 | -7.2 |
Administrative and Support Services | 0.83 | ··· | 0.76 | 0.80 | 0.81 | 0.77 | -5 | -7.9 |
Construction | 1.15 | ··· | 1.13 | 1.16 | 1.16 | 1.12 | -3.7 | -3.2 |
Consumer Services | 1.17 | ··· | 1.05 | 1.06 | 1.06 | 1.04 | -1.7 | -11.1 |
Education | 1.16 | ··· | 1.04 | 1.04 | 1.04 | 1.03 | -1.3 | -11.6 |
Entertainment Providers | 0.90 | ··· | 0.85 | 0.89 | 0.90 | 0.85 | -4.9 | -5.2 |
Farming, Ranching, Forestry | 0.98 | ··· | 1.00 | 0.88 | 0.93 | 1.00 | +7.7 | +2.4 |
Financial Services | 0.99 | ··· | 0.86 | 0.94 | 0.95 | 0.94 | -1 | -5.5 |
Government Administration | 1.06 | ··· | 0.91 | 0.91 | 0.90 | 0.88 | -1.9 | -17.1 |
Holding Companies | 0.72 | ··· | 0.72 | 0.70 | 0.73 | 0.68 | -7.4 | -6.3 |
Hospitals and Health Care | 1.08 | ··· | 1.05 | 1.04 | 1.06 | 1.00 | -5.4 | -7.3 |
Manufacturing | 0.86 | ··· | 0.77 | 0.80 | 0.81 | 0.80 | -1.8 | -7.4 |
Oil, Gas, and Mining | 0.87 | ··· | 0.75 | 0.81 | 0.75 | 0.73 | -2.9 | -16 |
Professional Services | 0.87 | ··· | 0.77 | 0.82 | 0.83 | 0.78 | -5.3 | -10.5 |
Real Estate and Equipment Rental Services | 0.94 | ··· | 0.85 | 0.90 | 0.88 | 0.84 | -4.3 | -10.3 |
Retail | 0.80 | ··· | 0.70 | 0.78 | 0.80 | 0.72 | -9.9 | -9.3 |
Technology, Information and Media | 0.85 | ··· | 0.77 | 0.85 | 0.87 | 0.83 | -4.1 | -2.8 |
Transportation, Logistics, Supply Chain and Storage | 1.02 | ··· | 0.87 | 0.95 | 0.97 | 0.94 | -3.3 | -7.6 |
Utilities | 1.14 | ··· | 1.09 | 1.16 | 1.09 | 1.07 | -1.8 | -5.9 |
Wholesale | 0.82 | ··· | 0.64 | 0.74 | 0.71 | 0.73 | +2.5 | -10.6 |
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.