August Workforce Report: Summer hiring streak continues into July

More jobs were added to the U.S. economy in July, as hiring across the country was up 17.3 percent from the same time last year, according to the August LinkedIn Workforce Report.

The oil and energy, manufacturing and industrial, and architecture and engineering industries saw the biggest gains in month-over-month hiring. Meantime, seasonally-adjusted hiring (hiring that excludes seasonal hiring variations – like companies hiring less in December due to the holiday season) was 5.4 percent lower in July than in June. While July’s month-over-month dip in seasonally-adjusted hiring may signal that the summer hiring streak is starting to slow, July hiring should still be read as strong.

Other key insights:

• Growing demand for mental health professionals in big cities: Employers in San Francisco, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston want workers with mental health and psychotherapy skills, ranging from neuropsychology and grief counseling, to cognitive behavioral therapy and crisis intervention. In the biggest U.S. cities, employers hiring for these skills include hospitals, private practices, and local governments. As mental health issues have become more widely discussed, it’s possible that greater awareness has encouraged more people to seek help, and created more jobs for medical professionals with mental health-related skills.
• Leaving the Big Apple for the Golden State: New York is Los Angeles’ single biggest source of talent, and Los Angeles is New York’s biggest brain drain destination. Last year, New Yorkers moved to LA in greater droves than to any other city. The number of workers coming from the New York was more than double the number coming from Chicago, the next city on the list.

The LinkedIn Workforce Report helps workers better navigate their careers by highlighting workforce trends in the U.S. and across 20 cities. Insights include whether hiring is up, down, or flat, which skills cities need most, and where workers are moving to and from.

Click here to read more of our August LinkedIn Workforce Report.