Economies (10)

United StatesHeating up

Unemployment: 4.3%; -0.1 pp MoM
CLI: 100.8; +0.09 MoM

March 2026

United KingdomStable

Unemployment: 4.9%
CLI: 100.9; -0.08 MoM

March 2026

CanadaStable

Unemployment: 6.7%; 0.0 pp MoM
CLI: 100.4; +0.10 MoM

March 2026

GermanyStable

Unemployment: 3.8%; -0.1 pp MoM
CLI: 99.9; +0.05 MoM

March 2026

FranceStable

Unemployment: 8.2%; +0.1 pp MoM
CLI: 100.1; +0.02 MoM

March 2026

AustraliaHeating up

Unemployment: 4.3%; -0.0 pp MoM
CLI: 100.8; +0.10 MoM

March 2026

JapanStable

Unemployment: 2.7%; 0.0 pp MoM
CLI: 100.3; +0.06 MoM

March 2026

South KoreaHeating up

Unemployment: 2.7%; -0.2 pp MoM
CLI: 100.2; +0.05 MoM

March 2026

NetherlandsStable

Unemployment: 4.0%; 0.0 pp MoM
CLI: 100.3; +0.03 MoM

March 2026

IndiaHeating up

Unemployment: 4.2%; +0.1 pp MoM
CLI: 102.0; +0.21 MoM

2025

Updated weekly

Job market tracker

See the white-collar market before you apply.

Macro hiring signals and rising skills for office, professional, and knowledge-work roles - global unemployment, US JOLTS by sector, and LinkedIn skills trends.

Key terms

CLI: Composite Leading Indicator from the OECD — an index built from early signals like orders, confidence, and hiring intentions. 100 means on long-term trend; above 100 points to expansion ahead, below 100 to a slowdown.
Heating up: Momentum is improving. For economies: unemployment is falling and/or CLI is rising. For US sectors: job openings are growing faster and employers are posting more roles than they fill.
Stable: No clear shift this month. Unemployment, CLI, and openings are roughly flat compared with recent readings — neither clearly tightening nor softening.
Cooling: Momentum is softening. Unemployment or openings are trending up while leading indicators weaken — hiring may slow in that economy or sector.

Global market trends

OECD unemployment & leading indicators · March 2026

Source: OECD

OECD unemployment

5.0%

G7 CLI

100.8

Heating up

4 economies

Unemployment rate by economy

France
8.2%
Canada
6.7%
United Kingdom
4.9%
United States
4.3%
Australia
4.3%
India
4.2%
Netherlands
4.0%
Germany
3.8%
Japan
2.7%
South Korea
2.7%

United States · labor market

BLS JOLTS · April 2026 (preliminary)

Source: BLS

Market signals

Openings / hires

1.49×

Tight market

>1.4× suggests more open roles than fill rate

YoY openings

+7.3%

+10.6% MoM

Voluntary quits

3.0M

-5.8% MoM

64% of separations are quits

Layoffs & discharges

1.7M

-10.2% MoM

Skills on the rise

What employers are asking for in professional roles · Dec 2024 – Nov 2025 vs prior year

Source: LinkedIn Skills on the Rise 2026

How to read this data

LinkedIn ranks skills by how fast they appear in member profiles and job posts — not by raw volume. AI implementation (prompt engineering, RAG, APIs) leads; governance, communication, and revenue skills follow.

Relative momentum index (100 = highest theme in this dataset). Not a salary or hiring volume metric.

Skill themes in the 2026 list (share of named skills)

20%

10%

14%

12%

10%

12%

10%

AI engineering leads the list - implementation skills outnumber pure strategy.

AI engineering (10)
AI strategy (5)
Communication (7)
Leadership (6)
Revenue growth (5)
Operations (5)
Finance ops (6)
Risk & compliance (5)

Apply the signal to your search

When you find a role worth pursuing, decode the posting with the job description decoder or check fit with the resume fit checker. Comparing options? Use compare postings.

Economies (10)

United StatesHeating up

Unemployment: 4.3%; -0.1 pp MoM
CLI: 100.8; +0.09 MoM

March 2026

United KingdomStable

Unemployment: 4.9%
CLI: 100.9; -0.08 MoM

March 2026

CanadaStable

Unemployment: 6.7%; 0.0 pp MoM
CLI: 100.4; +0.10 MoM

March 2026

GermanyStable

Unemployment: 3.8%; -0.1 pp MoM
CLI: 99.9; +0.05 MoM

March 2026

FranceStable

Unemployment: 8.2%; +0.1 pp MoM
CLI: 100.1; +0.02 MoM

March 2026

AustraliaHeating up

Unemployment: 4.3%; -0.0 pp MoM
CLI: 100.8; +0.10 MoM

March 2026

JapanStable

Unemployment: 2.7%; 0.0 pp MoM
CLI: 100.3; +0.06 MoM

March 2026

South KoreaHeating up

Unemployment: 2.7%; -0.2 pp MoM
CLI: 100.2; +0.05 MoM

March 2026

NetherlandsStable

Unemployment: 4.0%; 0.0 pp MoM
CLI: 100.3; +0.03 MoM

March 2026

IndiaHeating up

Unemployment: 4.2%; +0.1 pp MoM
CLI: 102.0; +0.21 MoM

2025

White-collar sectors

Job openings in knowledge-work industries — information (tech/media) and professional services (consulting, legal, corporate).

Information

Tech, media, telecom, and data services

Stable

Openings: 87K; +4.8% MoM
Hires: 78K
O/H ratio: 1.12×; -35.1% YoY

Openings trend (thousands)

September
119
October
117
November
88
December
112
January
100
February
80
March
83
April
87

Professional & business services

Consulting, legal, accounting, and corporate services

Heating up

Openings: 1.7M; +63.8% MoM
Hires: 933K
O/H ratio: 1.84×; +28.1% YoY

Openings trend (thousands)

September
1267
October
1268
November
1309
December
1167
January
1196
February
1303
March
1047
April
1715

Full skill list by theme (8 themes)

AI engineering & implementation

Prompt Engineering
RAG
LangChain
OpenAI API
Vector Databases
Model Fine-Tuning
FastAPI
Data Annotation
Google Gemini
XGBoost

AI business strategy

Responsible AI
Data Governance
AI for Business
Tech-Enabled Transformation
AI for Design

Executive & stakeholder communication

Public Speaking
Cross-Functional Coordination
Stakeholder Management
Leadership Communication
Client Engagement
Relationship Development
Shareholder Communications

Leadership & people management

Talent Development
Mentorship & Coaching
Cross-Functional Team Management
Leading Distributed Teams
Performance Optimization
Team Management

Business & revenue growth

Go-to-Market Strategy
Account Development
Sales Negotiation
Marketing Plan Development
New Market Expansion

Operational efficiency

Workflow Automation
Process Optimization
Program Improvement
Logistics Management
Real-time Monitoring

Financial operations & reporting

Financial Data Analysis
Cash Reporting
GAAP Reporting
Budget Management
Report Reconciliation
Inventory & Pricing Controls

Risk & compliance management

Regulatory Compliance
Policy Compliance
Quality Assurance
Safety Monitoring
Investigations Management

Composite leading indicator (100 = trend)

Economies (10)

Tell us what you think

Tell us what you think

Tell us what you think

Tell us what you think

Tell us what you think

Job market tracker

Key terms

Global market trends

OECD unemployment

G7 CLI

Heating up

Unemployment rate by economy

United States · labor market

Market signals

Openings / hires

YoY openings

Voluntary quits

Layoffs & discharges

Skills on the rise

Skill themes in the 2026 list (share of named skills)

Apply the signal to your search

Composite leading indicator (100 = trend)

Economies (10)

Labor flow · all industries (thousands)

White-collar sectors

Openings trend (thousands)

Openings trend (thousands)

Top rising skills (cross-category)

Theme momentum (category level)

Full skill list by theme (8 themes)

Table stakes (everywhere, not "on the rise")