Takeaways 

  • Indeed job postings across the US reflect a labor market that continues to slow down, falling 12% from April 5, 2023. 
  • Therapy is one of the few categories in the labor market adding job postings, though wage growth declined for these jobs.
  • Wage growth in healthcare is slowing, with Nursing lagging behind other categories at 2% year-over-year
Video of Sr. Economist, Daniel Culbertson, discussing the US Labor Market – Healthcare

Indeed job postings 

The Indeed Job Postings Index (JPI) indicates that employers continued to pull back on hiring in the first quarter, as postings have now notched more than two years of declines. At the end of the first quarter, postings were down 12% year-over-year, showing the pace of the annual decline slowed a bit from the beginning of the year when postings were falling at a rate of 15%. However, employer demand for workers remains elevated, as the JPI stood at a respectable 117.5 on April 5, meaning total postings were still more than 17% above their Feb 1, 2020 level. 

Line graph showing the change in Indeed job postings since their pre-pandemic baseline, through April 5, 2024. US job postings have fallen 12% over the past year.
Line graph showing the change in Indeed job postings since their pre-pandemic baseline, through April 5, 2024. US job postings have fallen 12% over the past year.

Healthcare job postings 

Job postings in the healthcare vertical have held up better than the overall labor market, with Therapy adding job postings at a rate of 8.5% year-over-year through April 5, 2024. Physicians & Surgeons postings are flat over the same period. All healthcare categories are still well above their pre-pandemic level, with Therapy job postings nearing 100% growth since February 1, 2020. 

Table showing job posting trends, over the past year through April 5, 2024, and from the pre-pandemic baseline, for several healthcare occupations. Therapy job postings increased 8.5% over the past year while nursing job postings fell by 17.7%.
Table showing job posting trends, over the past year through April 5, 2024, and from the pre-pandemic baseline, for several healthcare occupations. Therapy job postings increased 8.5% over the past year while nursing job postings fell by 17.7%.

Healthcare wage growth

Most categories across the healthcare vertical are garnering wage growth above the labor market average of 3.1%. Wage growth in Dental and Childcare roles is especially strong, both at 4.8% year-over-year growth through March 2024. Therapy wage growth has slowed the most in the past six months, declining by 2.2 percentage points. While Nursing wage growth is below the overall labor market average at 2% year-over-year, it has remained relatively stable, only declining 0.5 percentage points over the past six months. 

Table showing year-over-year growth in posted wages through March 2024 and the percentage point change in the past six months, by job category. Therapy and Nursing wages have grown 2.6% and 2% year-over-year, respectively.
Table showing year-over-year growth in posted wages through March 2024 and the percentage point change in the past six months, by job category. Therapy and Nursing wages have grown 2.6% and 2% year-over-year, respectively.

For more labor market insights from the Indeed Hiring Lab, visit us at hiringlab.org.