ZipRecruiter’s New Hire Survey 2026 Q2
The ZipRecruiter Q2 2026 New Hire Survey indicates that the workforce is navigating a slower labor market with careful consideration and intention. While the rapid job-hopping trend observed in the post-pandemic era has stabilized, newly hired workers continue to make strategic moves to enhance their daily work lives. The modern job search requires significant effort, endurance, and time; however, for candidates who are willing to invest that effort, the market is delivering positive results.
April Jobs Report: The Labor Market is Finding a New Normal
The April Employment Report shows a stabilizing trend, with 115,000 jobs added and unemployment holding at 4.3%. Declining labor force participation means fewer jobs are needed to maintain that rate. Excluding February's weather- and strike-related blip, the first four months of 2026 suggest the mid six figures may be the labor market's new normal.
March Job Openings Flat, but Hires Increase
The March Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) reported that while the level of job openings remained relatively unchanged, employer activity increased, as hires bumped up by 655,000 in March, taking the hires rate from the February slump of 3.1% back to 3.4%, matching the highest level since early 2024.
AI-Powered Job Seekers Are Twice as Likely to Land an Offer
The job search has a new dividing line: whether or not you're using AI. ZipRecruiter's Q1 2026 survey of job seekers shows a stark split in how AI-powered job seekers navigate their search compared with their more tech-averse counterparts.
Inflation Is Keeping Older Workers on the Clock
Retirement levels are near historic lows, with an estimate of retirements sitting at 274,000—well below pre-pandemic norms. Many stay working for financial reasons, as 66% of workers 60+ who haven't retired say income needs are keeping them on the job. Inflation has impacted retirement plans for just under half of those aged 60+, the number one fear this cohort experiences.
The Retirement Cliff Is Coming, But Older Workers Are Ready to Help Businesses Land Safely
Older workers make up nearly double the share of the workforce they did 20 years ago, and many are willing to stay longer if employers offer a path to do so.
Retirement Realities
Many workers 60+ expect never to fully retire—and most say money is the reason.
ZipRecruiter’s Graduate Survey 2026
As the labor market has remained stalled for much of the last year, the entry-level job market is tightening. These roles are harder to find and more competitive right now than more senior positions. ZipRecruiter’s data shows that more job seekers are competing for entry-level positions, while fewer of the available jobs are actually entry-level. This means emerging talent faces more competition to get their foot in the door.
How Employers Win Top Talent in 2026
The latest data from our Q1 Job Seeker Confidence Survey and Q4 New Hire Survey highlights exactly how employers can stand out in a competitive market. To win the attention of top candidates, companies must focus on speed, clarity, and flexibility.
March Jobs Report: Back on Track, But With Caution
The March Employment Report reversed course from the February dip, and posted a large gain: an increase of 178,000 jobs in March blew past expectations to the highest gain since December 2024. Unemployment ticked back down to 4.3% as labor force participation fell to 61.9%. While the headline numbers are stronger than expected, a peak under the hood presents a shrinking labor force and continued challenges for those looking for work.
Record-High Women’s Employment Meets the AI Stress Test
The US labor market is reshaping itself around AI, just as women’s employment reaches record levels. But the risks of AI-induced changes to occupations are not evenly distributed amongst workers. Brookings Institution research, confirmed by Anthropic, identifies roughly 6.1 million U.S. workers who face both high AI exposure and low ability to adapt if they are displaced. About 86% of these workers are women, concentrated in clerical and administrative roles.
February Job Openings Fall, Hires Lowest Since April 2020
The February Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) reported a decrease in job openings from revised January numbers. A mix of severe weather and healthcare strikes led to the lower than expected employment growth in February, and the lowest level and rate of hires since April 2020. Aside from the 2020 dip, the hires level has not been this low since 2014, when the labor market was still rebuilding after the Great Recession. While unemployment in today’s market remains low, the stall in hiring, coupled with a delay in retirement activity, is leading to a locked-out market for many new entrants.
ZipRecruiter Job Seeker Confidence Survey 2026 Q1
The ZipRecruiter Job Seeker Confidence Index grew by 2.9 points in the first quarter of 2026, landing at 99.8 – the highest it’s been since 2022. The Expectations Index took a large leap forward, with job seekers having much more positive expectations about the market than in the past several quarters, a positive sign as the labor market shows early signals of a turnaround.
More than a Third of Workers Have a Second Source of Income
More than a third of U.S. workers (35%) currently have a side hustle or hold multiple jobs, according to a recent ZipRecruiter survey, and the practice now cuts across nearly every corner of American working life.
Younger workers are nearly twice as likely as those over 45 to have supplemental income. Veterans, union members, and high earners are all above average as well. But the motivations are far from one-size-fits-all. A side hustle can be a lifeline for those stretched by rising costs, an on-ramp for first-time job seekers facing barriers to traditional employment, or a ladder for those trying to move up faster. Understanding who has one, and why, reveals a workforce that is more financially creative and more financially pressured than employment figures alone suggest.
The Unproven Promise of AI
According to the Federal Reserve’s February Beige Book, businesses are integrating AI to augment output rather than replace jobs. It is tempting to link recent GDP growth, which has diverged from a softening labor market, to productivity gains from AI. Yet despite sensational headlines, AI’s real-world business impact remains limited. And the most important question may not be how AI affects productivity, but who benefits if and when it does.
February Jobs Report: Gains Offset from January
The February Employment Report proves that one month is not a trend. January's labor market gains reversed course in February, with employment declining by 92,000 jobs, far off from consensus estimates. Outside of October's government shutdown, the longest in history, this is the largest monthly job loss since 2020.
Resilience and Momentum: Where Black Workers Are Gaining Ground in the U.S. Labor Market
The U.S. labor market has been through a great deal of turbulence in the past six years, and Black workers have felt that turbulence acutely. Unemployment gaps widened, wage gains were uneven, and economic uncertainty cast a shadow over household finances. And yet, something important is also happening beneath those headline numbers: Black workers are not just weathering the storm, they are steering the ship.
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS) and ZipRecruiter's survey data paint a portrait of a Black workforce that is engaged, proactive, and forward-looking. That doesn't mean the structural challenges are gone, but it does mean that Black workers are increasingly writing their own stories of success.
January Jobs Report: Early Signs of Potential Stabilization Emerge
The January Employment Report data presents a nuanced picture of an economy potentially finding its footing after a sluggish year. While the addition of 130,000 jobs is modest by historical standards, it represents the strongest monthly gain since late 2024. Importantly, new annual revisions provided a clearer picture of the 2025 landscape, with last year’s total gains recalibrated from 584,000 to 181,000. With the unemployment rate ticking down to 4.3% and a slight rise in December hires, the significant slowdown of 2025 may be showing early signs of giving way to a renewed warming of hiring activity.
December Job Openings Widen the Gap Between Seekers and Opportunities
The December Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report confirms a trend that many job seekers are already feeling: the labor market is becoming increasingly difficult to navigate. Job openings fell to 6.5 million in December—a decline of nearly one million from a year ago and the lowest level in over five years. While the unemployment rate has shown signs of stabilizing, the environment remains highly competitive, with roughly one million more unemployed individuals than available job openings.