// JOB_MARKET
What’s hiring - right now.
Live signal across 1.9M postings. Aggregations refreshed 23h ago.
AI hiring index
last 7dAI / ML / LLM-keyword roles as a share of the entire live catalog. Share is catalog-growth-normalized so it’s a cleaner signal than raw count.
today
0.26%
up from 0.29% 7 days ago
U.S. job market - the long view
as of Jul 20, 20265-year context for the U.S. labor market, with deeper sections on AI’s impact and tech layoffs. Sourced from public reports (BLS JOLTS / OEWS / CPS, FRED, Indeed Hiring Lab, Lightcast, Layoffs.fyi, Challenger Gray, Stanford AI Index, Levels.fyi, McKinsey). Refreshed daily.
The U.S. labor market in mid-2026 is cooler but still fundamentally tight, with unemployment in the low-4% range and job openings elevated relative to hires.
Nonfarm payroll growth has slowed markedly from the post-pandemic boom, but total employment is still edging up and layoffs remain historically low.[1][4] Unemployment has drifted higher from its 2022 lows yet remains relatively low by historical standards, around the low-4% range in mid-2026.[1][4] Demand for labor is still solid, with job openings rising again in 2026 even as hiring has decelerated and worker churn has normalized from the "Great Resignation" period.[2][4] White-collar hiring has softened year-over-year, remote posting shares have come off their pandemic highs, and real median earnings growth is roughly flat to slightly positive as inflation has eased.[3][4] Long-term unemployment remains below pre-pandemic norms, suggesting that most job seekers are not staying unemployed for extended periods even in a cooler market.[4]
Nonfarm payroll change, last 12 months
+0.6 million (approx.)
Based on BLS CES revisions showing only 0.18 million jobs added in 2025 and modest monthly gains in early 2026, total nonfarm payrolls are up by roughly 0.6 million over the latest 12 months.[1][3]
Job openings rate, latest month
4.6%
The April 2026 JOLTS release reported a job openings rate of 4.6%, with 7.6 million openings, the highest level in almost two years.[2]
Unemployment rate, latest month
4.2%
The June 2026 Employment Situation report shows the unemployment rate at 4.2%, little changed on the month and in the low-4% range for 2026.[1][4]
Quits rate vs 2021–2022 peak
About 2.1% vs ~3.0% peak
Recent JOLTS data show quits well below their 2021–2022 highs, with the quits rate around the low-2% range compared with roughly 3% at the peak during the Great Resignation (last published 2024).[4]
Professional & business services hires, YoY
-0.3 to -0.5 ppts YoY (approx.)
White-collar hiring in professional and business services has softened year-over-year according to JOLTS, with lower hire rates than a year ago (last published 2024).[4]
Share of postings advertising remote work
Low-20s percent (approx.)
Indeed and LinkedIn data indicate that the share of U.S. job postings offering remote or hybrid work has drifted down from pandemic highs in the mid-2020s to roughly the low-20% range by early 2026 (last published 2025).[4]
Median real wage growth, YoY
+0% to +1% (approx.)
BLS CES earnings and BEA inflation data show nominal wage growth cooling while easing inflation leaves real median earnings roughly flat to slightly positive year-over-year in early 2026 (last published 2025).[3][4]
Long-term unemployed share (27+ weeks)
About 17–18% of unemployed (approx.)
BLS CPS data indicate that the share of the unemployed who have been jobless for 27 weeks or more remains below pre-pandemic norms and is roughly in the high-teens percent range (last published 2025).[4]
U.S. unemployment rate, monthly
Source: BLS CPS, seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, Jan 2021–Jun 2026
Job openings, monthly
Source: BLS JOLTS, total nonfarm job openings, Jan 2021–Apr 2026
Quits rate vs hires rate, monthly
Source: BLS JOLTS, total nonfarm quits and hires rates, Jan 2021–Apr 2026
Professional & business services payroll index- change vs 2020
Source: BLS CES, employment in professional and business services, 2020=100, Jan 2020–Jun 2026
Sources: BLS Employment Situation, June 2026 · BLS JOLTS, April 2026 (via CNBC summary) · Indeed Hiring Lab, January 2026 Jobs Report · Job Agent, Live Job Market Data 2026 · Stanford AI Index 2026 · McKinsey State of AI 2025 · Lightcast Labor Market Data · Levels.fyi 2025–2026 Compensation Data · Layoffs.fyi Tech Layoffs Tracker · Challenger Gray & Christmas Layoff Reports · TrueUp Tech Layoffs Tracker · BLS JOLTS and CES Databases
Hiring half-life
How long a job posting stays live before it’s removed. Lower numbers mean roles are filling faster. All-time average is over 745.2K removed postings; last-30d cohort is 264.8K.
Recent cohort lingers ~6.4 days longer than the all-time baseline.
Where the work happens
Data window: 2026-04-17 → today. Trends widen as catalog history grows; MoM activates at ~60 days of data.