May 2025 Jobs Recap: Hiring momentum falters amid rising costs, and tariff pressures.

Key Takeaways:

• Hiring momentum slowed further in May as active U.S. job listings declined from 4.4 million in April to 4.2 million. Employers are holding off on new hires due to a combination of elevated tariff risks, tighter financial conditions, and softening business confidence.

• Additionally, lower monthly job creation may no longer be sufficient to maintain stable unemployment levels, raising concerns about emerging employment gaps. Meanwhile, inflation increased to 2.4% in May, up from 2.3% in April.

U.S. Job Listings by Month | May 2024 - May 2025

In May, active U.S. job listings declined 4%, signaling a modest but notable pullback. New job openings created during the month fell from 1.54 million to 1.46 million. Meanwhile, removed job openings edged up slightly from 1.61 million to 1.65 million.

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.

Monthly LinkUp 10,000 | May 2022 - May 2025

The LinkUp 10,000 index declined from 4.2 million in April to 4.0 million in May.

Jobs Data By Industry (NAICS)

We're seeing a decline in labor demand across most sectors for the month of May. The three largest by job openings count:

• Accommodation and Food Service (-67k)

• Health Care and Social Assistance (-43k)

• Information (-19k)

Job Listings by Industry (NAICS) | May 2025

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

Jobs Data By Occupation (O*NET)

Labor demand softened across most occupations in May, with the largest declines observed in the following roles by job openings count:

• Food Preparation and Serving (-44k)

• Healthcare Practitioners and Technical (-21k)

• Sales and Related (-18k)

Food Preparation and Serving experienced one of the steepest declines in May, as consumers adjusted spending patterns in response to persistent inflation and while businesses grappled with increased input costs and economic uncertainty weighing on discretionary demand.

Job Listings by Occupation (O*NET) | May 2025

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.

Time to Fill By Month | May 2024 - May 2025

The closed duration increased to 46.8 days in May, up from 44.5 days in April. The rise in closed duration suggests that employers are taking longer to fill positions.

Jobs Data By State

During the month of May, almost all the states in the United States saw a decrease in job listings from April. The states that saw the largest drop were:

• Rhode Island (-8.1%)

• Missouri (-7.7%)

• Nevada (-6.7%)

Percent Change in Active Job Listings by State (Month-Over-Month) | May 2025

862 Companies Added

Every month, LinkUp indexes new companies to our database. In May, LinkUp added 862 additional employer websites.

Contact us if you are interested in obtaining the complete list of recently added companies.

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.