Over 176 million workers in the U.S. have LinkedIn profiles; over 97,000 companies in the U.S. use LinkedIn to recruit and members can add over 38,000 skills to their profiles to showcase their professional brands. That gives us unique and valuable insight into U.S. workforce trends.

This LinkedIn Workforce Report is a monthly report on employment trends in the U.S. workforce. It’s divided into two sections: a National section that provides insights into hiring and migration trends across the country, and a City section that provides insights into localized employment trends in 20 of the largest U.S. metro areas: 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

• Modest improvement in August hiring: Across all industries, hiring in the U.S. was 2.9% higher in August 2021 compared to last month. National hiring in August was 34.7% higher compared to August 2020, but is still trailing pre-COVID levels from February 2020 by 2.8%. The U.S. economy is anticipated to gradually decelerate going forward, so any future gains in hiring are unlikely to match the pace seen in the second half of 2019 and early 2020.
• Recreation & Travel continues hiring surge: The industries with the most notable hiring shifts month-to-month in August were Transportation & Logistics (10.3% higher); Corporate Services (9.9% higher); and Legal (6.4% higher). Notably, Recreation & Travel continues to experience a strong bounce back this summer, with hiring in the sector currently up 51.4% from pre-COVID levels from February 2020. Following steep hiring cuts during the COVID recession, this sector is now scrambling to hire to keep up with consumer demand and overcome attrition.
• Southern cities experiencing hiring gains: The cities with the most notable hiring shifts month-to-month in August were Atlanta (7.2% higher); St. Louis (6.9% higher); and San Francisco Bay Area (6.9% higher). Looking at hiring rates compared to February 2020, southern cities continue to experience strong gains, with Nashville (11.8% higher), Miami (11.2% higher), and Austin (11.2%) all hiring well above pre-COVID levels.

Hiring

The LinkedIn hiring rate is a measure of hires divided by LinkedIn membership. Nationally, across all industries, hiring in the U.S. was 2.9% higher in August compared to last month July 2021. National hiring was 34.7% higher in August compared to last year August 2020.

The industries with the most notable hiring shifts month-to-month in August were Transportation & Logistics (10.3% higher); Corporate Services (9.9% higher); and Legal (6.4% higher).

Table 1: Hiring on LinkedIn, by Industry, through August 2021

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, 233 left in the past 12 months.

The U.S. cities gaining the most people are Austin, TX; North Port-Sarasota, FL; and Nashville, TN. For every 10,000 LinkedIn members in Austin, TX, 129 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.