February 2026 Jobs Recap: Hiring recovery stalls amid ongoing uncertainties

Key Takeaways:

• Modest contraction in job listings: Active job listings saw a 1.7% drop in February 2026 to 3.82 million from 3.89 million in January, reflecting slower hiring due to ongoing business uncertainties.  

• Broad-Based Industry Declines: Industries that saw a decline include Health Care and Social Assistance (-32.4k), Accommodation and Food Services (-15.9k), and Retail Trade (-13.3k). However, Public Administration saw the largest increase (+4.5k) due to posting for essential services and administrative jobs.

• Major Occupation Drops: Healthcare Practitioners and Technical occupations experienced the largest drop (-21.3k) followed by Sales and Related (-16.9k), and Healthcare Support (-13.2k). 

U.S. Job Listings by Month | February 2025 - February 2026

LinkUp 10,000

The LinkUp 10,000 is an analytic published daily and monthly that captures the total U.S. job openings from the 10,000 global employers in LinkUp’s jobs dataset with the most U.S. openings.

February 2026 saw the LinkUp 10,000 register 3.64 million job listings, down by 1.8% from January. The job listings were below February 2025 levels with a 10% year-over-year drop. The ongoing uncertainty surrounding trade policies and global tariffs has led many companies to scale back their expansion and hiring plans.

Monthly LinkUp 10,000 | February 2025 - February 2026

Jobs Data By Industry (NAICS)

U.S. industries are evenly split according to our labor market data. Industries that experienced the most growth in job openings were:  

• Public Administration (4.5k)

• Administrative, Support, Waste Management and Remediation Services (4.1k)

• Finance and Insurance (1.5k)

The following industries recorded a fall in job postings:

• Health Care and Social Assistance (-32.4k)

• Accommodation and Food Services (-15.9k)

• Retail Trade (-13.3k) 

Job Listings by Industry (NAICS) | February 2026

This chart displays the change in job listings across various industries, categorized by NAICS codes.

Industry Spotlight: Public Administration

The Public Administration sector experienced an increase of 4.5k job postings in February 2026. This uptick sustains the recovery trend initiated in January, effectively ending months of contraction. The growth is largely underpinned by workforce expansion across essential services, specifically within the education, healthcare, and administrative roles. 

Jobs Data By Occupation (O*NET)

Occupations that experienced the largest gains in February:

• Computer and Mathematical (4.8k)

• Architecture and Engineering (2.6k)

• Management (2.4k)

Occupations with largest drop:

• Healthcare Practitioners and Technical (-21.3k)

• Sales and Related (-16.9k)

• Healthcare Support (-13.2k) 

Note: Beginning with the October 2025 report, occupation analysis uses a new internally generated O*NET, so some occupation trends may not be strictly comparable to earlier months and minor inconsistencies can appear. 

Job Listings by Occupation (O*NET) | February 2026

This chart displays the change in job listings across various occupations, categorized by O*NET codes.

Closed Duration

Closed duration, or the average number of days job listings remain live on company websites before removal, tracks hiring velocity across the U.S. economy. As the average duration increases, hiring velocity slows.

In February, the closed duration dropped to 47.6 days, from 48.6 days in January.

Time to Fill By Month | February 2025 - February 2026

Jobs Data By State

During the month of February, 87% of the U.S. saw a drop in job listings from January. The states that saw the largest decreases were:

• New Mexico (-4.3%)

• Idaho (-4.2%)

• North Dakota (-3.7%)

The states with largest gains in February were:

• Washington, D.C. (3.3%)

• Puerto Rico (1.2%)

• Alaska (0.8%) 

Percent Change in Active Job Listings by State (Month-Over-Month) | February 2026

DATA DISCLAIMERS

LinkUp’s monthly data recaps incorporate revisions to previously-reported monthly data with the purpose of reporting the most accurate and up-to-date data points. For more information on what circumstances may impact data revisions, visit our Data Support Center.