It’s been a politically rocky few months for the US, but has the jobs market managed to stay on an even keel? With our January numbers in, we took a look at job openings across the country to find out which sectors are hiring, which cities are thriving, and what’s happening overall. Here’s what we found.
What’s happening overall?
Advertized salaries have slipped 37% year-on-year to $55,311 in January 2021. This is partly down to hiring being concentrated at the lower end and among entry-level positions. Even Tech, one of the highest paid sectors with advertized salaries topping $109,000, has seen salaries fall 30% annually.
Meanwhile, job openings have fallen slightly since the US election, with over a quarter of a million fewer advertized vacancies on offer in January compared to November 2020, at 4,290,958 down from 4,557,586.
Headline statistics, US jobs market, Jan 2021
| January 2021 | December 2020 | January 2020 | Monthly Change | Annual change from Jan 2020 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advertized Vacancies | 4,290,958 | 4,466,719 | 4,734,942 | -3.9% | -9.4% |
| Jobseekers per Vacancy | 2.45 | 2.35 | 1.39 | +0.10 | +1.06 |
| Av. Advertized Salary* | $55,311 | $52,260 | $87,625 | +5.8% | -36.9% |
*Advertized salary data is based on job postings on Adzuna.com that specify a salary. Please note that this metric is skewed towards entry-level positions, where advertized salaries are more regularly disclosed.
As a result, the jobs market has got a little harder for job hunters over recent months. Our data shows competition for jobs hitting a 3 month high in January 2021, with 2.45 jobseekers per job, up from 1.39 a year ago.
Which sectors are hiring?
Our analysis finds many of the jobs on offer are clustered in two sectors. The first of these is Healthcare & Nursing, which continues to hire at pace, with many roles lying open due to an acute talent shortage. There are over 700,000 unfilled Healthcare & Nursing vacancies currently being advertized, making this the top hiring sector.
Meanwhile, the Logistics & Warehouse sector has experienced a pandemic-boom driven by rising online sales, with job openings growing +210% compared to January 2020 and over 600,000 openings currently available. Much of this growth has been in lower-paid positions such as Warehouse Pickers and Delivery Drivers. The average advertized sector salary reflects this, sitting at just $33,345.
Finally, we have seen e-commerce roles soaring, with over 210,000 Sales positions on offer across the US in January, up 141% year-on-year.
Top 5 hiring sectors, US jobs market, Jan 2021
| Sector | Advertized Vacancies, Jan 2021 | Monthly Change | Annual change from Jan 2020 | Av. Advertized Salary, Jan 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Healthcare & Nursing | 738,029 | -2.0% | +42.5% | $98,065 |
| Logistics & Warehouse | 609,549 | -16.4% | +209.6% | $33,345 |
| IT | 481,389 | +1.9% | +69.3% | $109,526 |
| Retail | 278,986 | -5.1% | +30.1% | $37,963 |
| Sales | 210,486 | -5.4% | +141.1% | $75,250 |
Where are all the jobs?
The job market recovery varies wildly from metro to metro, but there are several bright spots worth noting.
Texas metros Austin and Houston are bucking the trend with job openings growing, helped by an influx of world-class companies, including Amazon and Oracle, expanding their footprints in the friendly state. Austin and Houston saw 15% and 3% more advertized vacancies than a year ago respectively. Overall, Texas was home to 242,600 job openings in January 2021, meaning the state accounts for 17.7% of overall hiring. Job openings have fallen just 7.8% year-on-year, beating US wide figures.
New York has shown real resilience, despite hundreds of thousands of jobs lost from the Hospitality & Catering sector and indoor dining remaining banned. There are over 200,000 job openings currently on offer in New York, just 7.1% down annually, making it one of the largest and most resilient jobs markets across the US.
Seattle is also recovering strongly, helped by a thriving tech sector that is defying the odds and going from strength to strength.
But the story is different in California, one of the hardest hit states, where rising infection rates and the recent wildfires have thrown the hiring recovery into reverse. San Jose and San Francisco are two of the hardest hit metros, with advertized vacancies falling 23.0% and 21.2% annually respectively. Overall, California vacancies have fallen 20.1% year-on-year.
Final takeaways
For now, it’s worth focusing your job search on some of the growing sectors we’ve pulled out above. While overall hiring has been a little sluggish so far this year, industries like Healthcare & Nursing and Logistics & Warehouse are beating the slowdown.
Most importantly, stay positive. We’ve seen a small decline in job openings on Adzuna.com in January. But as the country moves into a new political era, we’re hopeful that renewed business confidence and political stability will filter through into more hiring, meaning more jobs on offer.
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