LinkedIn Workforce Report | United States | September 2023
With over 206 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 August 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
Hiring declines continue: Nationally, hiring declined 3.6% in August compared to July, making it the third month in a row of hiring declines after small gains in late spring. In another sign of labor market cooling, August’s year-over-year (-23.8%) declines took a step back as compared to last year, but still outperformed the first 5 months of this year. Despite hiring declines, US members' confidence in finding or holding a job matched its 5-month high in our latest Workforce Confidence Index.
Moderation in declines is apparent across almost all industries: Hiring increased in 1 of 20 industries in August, a decrease from 9 last month. Month-over-month the industries with the strongest increase were Holding Companies (+5.5%), Technology, Information, and Media (-2.5%), and Transportation and Logistics (-2.7%). Industries that saw weak month-over-month hiring were Wholesale (-13.9%), Consumer Services (-11.3%), and Retail (-10.7%).
Looking over the past 6 months, hiring declines in 18 of 20 have been milder than in the prior 6 months, with a 5.3 median (i.e. typical) percentage point (pp) increase. The industries with the strongest momentum during that time period were Technology, Information, and Media (+23.7pp), Construction (+14.7pp), and Manufacturing (+14.4pp). We saw weakest momentum in Consumer Services (-15.2pp), Education (-8.9pp), and Accomodation and Food Services (-6pp).Hiring backslide in all but one metro: Only 1 of the 20 metros we track experienced a hiring increase in August, compared to 3 last month. The strongest month-over-month metros were Austin (+1.9%), Los Angeles (-1.1%), and San Francisco (-2.3%). The areas that saw month-over-month hiring declines were Nashville (-13.3%), St. Louis (-11.5%), and Boston (-7.4%). On a year-over-year comparison Phoenix (-24.1%), Miami/Fort Lauderdale (-24.5%), and Cleveland (-25.7%) are some of the strongest performing metros. The metros that continue to struggle compared to a year ago are Nashville (-32.5%), St. Louis (-33.95%), and Seattle (-34.4%).
Hiring
The LinkedIn hiring rate is a measure of hires divided by LinkedIn membership. Nationally, across all industries, hiring in the U.S. was 3.6% lower in August 2023 compared to last month July 2023. National hiring was 23.8% lower in August 2023 compared to last year August 2022.
The industries with the most notable hiring shifts month-to-month in August 2023 were Holding Companies (5.5% higher); Technology, Information and Media (2.5% lower); and Transportation, Logistics, Supply Chain and Storage (2.7% lower).
Table 1: Hiring on LinkedIn, by Industry, through August 2023
Industry | Aug-22 | ··· | May-23 | Jun-23 | Jul-23 | Aug-23 | MoM% Change | YoY% Change |
Accommodation and Food Services | 1.05 | ··· | 0.90 | 0.87 | 0.92 | 0.86 | -6.7 | -18 |
Administrative and Support Services | 1.23 | ··· | 0.94 | 0.79 | 0.86 | 0.81 | -5.6 | -33.7 |
Construction | 1.31 | ··· | 1.20 | 1.13 | 1.12 | 1.06 | -5.4 | -18.7 |
Consumer Services | 1.14 | ··· | 1.05 | 0.96 | 1.00 | 0.89 | -11.3 | -21.9 |
Education | 1.22 | ··· | 1.18 | 1.10 | 1.08 | 1.04 | -3.7 | -15.3 |
Entertainment Providers | 1.02 | ··· | 0.90 | 0.87 | 0.86 | 0.81 | -5 | -20.1 |
Farming, Ranching, Forestry | 1.28 | ··· | 1.11 | 1.13 | 1.05 | 1.00 | -5.2 | -22.2 |
Financial Services | 1.33 | ··· | 1.00 | 0.99 | 0.92 | 0.85 | -7.1 | -35.6 |
Government Administration | 1.15 | ··· | 1.12 | 1.03 | 1.08 | 0.99 | -8.6 | -13.9 |
Holding Companies | 1.20 | ··· | 0.92 | 0.85 | 0.66 | 0.69 | +5.5 | -42.4 |
Hospitals and Health Care | 1.33 | ··· | 1.16 | 1.09 | 1.13 | 1.03 | -8.9 | -22.9 |
Manufacturing | 1.17 | ··· | 0.96 | 0.91 | 0.90 | 0.83 | -7.6 | -29.1 |
Oil, Gas, and Mining | 1.11 | ··· | 1.00 | 0.90 | 0.87 | 0.84 | -3.9 | -24.4 |
Professional Services | 1.12 | ··· | 0.93 | 0.88 | 0.82 | 0.79 | -3.7 | -29.1 |
Real Estate and Equipment Rental Services | 1.19 | ··· | 0.97 | 0.94 | 0.97 | 0.91 | -5.7 | -23.4 |
Retail | 1.01 | ··· | 0.84 | 0.72 | 0.77 | 0.69 | -10.7 | -32.1 |
Technology, Information and Media | 1.25 | ··· | 0.83 | 0.76 | 0.73 | 0.72 | -2.5 | -42.9 |
Transportation, Logistics, Supply Chain and Storage | 1.34 | ··· | 1.11 | 1.08 | 1.04 | 1.01 | -2.7 | -24.7 |
Utilities | 1.44 | ··· | 1.26 | 1.19 | 1.23 | 1.11 | -9.4 | -22.8 |
Wholesale | 1.11 | ··· | 0.80 | 0.75 | 0.83 | 0.71 | -13.9 | -35.6 |
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.
Migration
The U.S. cities losing the most people are College Station-Bryan, TX; Gainesville, FL; and Tallahassee, FL. For every 10,000 LinkedIn members in College Station-Bryan, TX, 115 left in the past 12 months.
The U.S. cities gaining the most people are North Port-Sarasota, FL; Charleston, SC; and Tampa Bay, FL. For every 10,000 LinkedIn members in North Port-Sarasota, FL, 94 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.
