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Recruiting Trends Show April Was The Strongest Month For Hiring Since June 2015: LinkedIn Workforce Report May 2017

After a slow start early in March, hiring picked up steam and carried into April. Hiring across the U.S. was 16.7% higher in April than April 2016. And seasonally-adjusted hiring (hiring that excludes seasonal hiring variations – like companies hiring less in December due to the holiday season) was 3.4% higher in April than March. That’s according to our May LinkedIn Workforce Report. That made the strongest month for hiring since June 2015. If you’re looking for a new gig, check out LinkedIn Jobs!

recruiting trends comparison

But there’s a potential bump in the road worth calling out: despite the increase in hiring last month, seasonally-adjusted hiring was down in April compared to March in 10 of the 13 industries we track on LinkedIn. That means the nationwide increase in seasonally-adjusted hiring was fueled by only three industries – the manufacturing and industrial industry (which was up 0.5%); the aerospace, automotive, and transport industry (which was up 1.3%), and the software industry (which was up 8.5%). There’s no cause for concern now since it’s only one month’s worth of data. But if it persists, it could be a challenge because it’s like having an NBA playoff team with two all stars. If one gets hurt, the entire team’s performance will drop.

And there’s one other interesting finding from this month’s Workforce Report: Demand for manufacturing skills is strong, but not in the Midwestern cities once the hotbed for American factory jobs. There are too many workers skilled in lean manufacturing and quality management in Cleveland, Detroit, and Minneapolis, for example. But there aren’t enough workers with that skill in faster-growing coastal (and one inland) cities – like Washington, D.C., the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, Miami, Los Angeles, and Denver. So manufacturing workers who are having a hard time finding a gig in Cleveland, Detroit and Minneapolis may want to consider looking for jobs on the coasts.

For more info, please read the full May LinkedIn Workforce Report.