LinkedIn Workforce Report | United States | May 2025
With over 225 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 April 2025.
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 still slow but bucks uncertainty: Nationally, hiring across all industries held steady from March to April, dipping just 0.4%, and slowing 6.6% compared to April 2024. Since January, hiring is down 6%, but April showed no significant new slowdown despite rising uncertainty and market volatility. While economic headwinds may still lie ahead, their impact has yet to materialize. It is worth noting that hiring is already slow, so further slowdown may be limited—even amid much uncertainty.
Hiring gains split across industries: Hiring accelerated in 9 out 20 industries from March to April. The industries where hiring accelerated month-over-month were Farming, Ranching, Forestry (+8.1%), Education (+5.5%) and Holding Companies (+4.0%). Hiring slowed the most in Utilities (-4.0%), Wholesale (-5.1%), and Oil, Gas, and Mining (-6.6%). Hiring was up again in April 2025 compared to April 2024 in Financial Services (+1.4%) and only down slightly in Technology, Information and Media (-0.5%). Government Administration continues to see hiring slow significantly compared to last year with hiring down -15.4% year-over-year, second worst only to Manufacturing (-15.8%) and Farming, Ranching, Forestry (-16.7%).
- Hiring gains balanced across major metros: 11 of the 20 metros we track saw hiring accelerate from March to April, led by Detroit (+4.3%), Seattle (+4.2%), and Nashville (+3.6%). The sharpest slowdowns occurred in Austin (-1.6%), New York City (-2.9%), and Philadelphia (-7.7%). Year-over-year, hiring rose in Miami–Fort Lauderdale (+4.5%), the San Francisco Bay Area (+2.1%), and Detroit (+1.1%). Overall, the Sunbelt remains resilient, with hiring at or above pre-pandemic levels in Miami–Fort Lauderdale, Phoenix, and Dallas.
Hiring
The LinkedIn hiring rate is a measure of hires divided by LinkedIn membership. Nationally, across all industries, hiring in the U.S. was 0.4% lower in April 2025 compared to last month March 2025. National hiring was 6.6% lower in April 2025 compared to last year April 2024.
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED HIRING
The industries with the most notable hiring shifts month-to-month in April 2025 were Farming, Ranching, Forestry (8.1% higher); Education (5.5% higher); and Holding Companies (4% higher).
Table 1: Hiring on LinkedIn, by Industry, through April 2025
Industry | Apr-24 | ··· | Jan-25 | Feb-25 | Mar-25 | Apr-25 | MoM% Change | YoY% Change |
Accommodation and Food Services | 0.92 | ··· | 0.94 | 0.97 | 0.87 | 0.87 | -0.2 | -5.1 |
Administrative and Support Services | 0.86 | ··· | 0.80 | 0.85 | 0.81 | 0.79 | -2.5 | -8 |
Construction | 1.23 | ··· | 1.20 | 1.19 | 1.13 | 1.11 | -2.2 | -9.7 |
Consumer Services | 1.17 | ··· | 1.13 | 1.15 | 1.12 | 1.10 | -1.6 | -5.9 |
Education | 1.15 | ··· | 1.13 | 1.16 | 1.07 | 1.12 | +5.5 | -2 |
Entertainment Providers | 0.92 | ··· | 0.85 | 0.88 | 0.87 | 0.87 | +0.6 | -5.7 |
Farming, Ranching, Forestry | 1.16 | ··· | 0.96 | 1.02 | 0.90 | 0.97 | +8.1 | -16.7 |
Financial Services | 0.96 | ··· | 1.01 | 1.02 | 1.00 | 0.97 | -2.3 | +1.4 |
Government Administration | 1.09 | ··· | 1.07 | 1.00 | 0.93 | 0.93 | -0.6 | -15.4 |
Holding Companies | 0.84 | ··· | 0.73 | 0.66 | 0.69 | 0.72 | +4 | -13.7 |
Hospitals and Health Care | 1.11 | ··· | 1.09 | 1.09 | 1.05 | 1.05 | +0.6 | -5.3 |
Manufacturing | 0.95 | ··· | 0.84 | 0.84 | 0.81 | 0.80 | -1.8 | -15.8 |
Oil, Gas, and Mining | 0.89 | ··· | 0.80 | 0.85 | 0.84 | 0.78 | -6.6 | -12.2 |
Professional Services | 0.88 | ··· | 0.87 | 0.88 | 0.83 | 0.83 | +0 | -4.9 |
Real Estate and Equipment Rental Services | 0.98 | ··· | 0.86 | 0.90 | 0.87 | 0.86 | -1 | -11.5 |
Retail | 0.81 | ··· | 0.82 | 0.84 | 0.77 | 0.77 | +0 | -4.2 |
Technology, Information and Media | 0.85 | ··· | 0.85 | 0.88 | 0.84 | 0.85 | +1.6 | -0.5 |
Transportation, Logistics, Supply Chain and Storage | 1.01 | ··· | 0.98 | 1.03 | 0.97 | 0.99 | +2.6 | -2 |
Utilities | 1.23 | ··· | 1.12 | 1.09 | 1.09 | 1.05 | -4 | -15 |
Wholesale | 0.86 | ··· | 0.72 | 0.84 | 0.77 | 0.73 | -5.1 | -14.5 |
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.
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.
