Hiring and layoff trends matter to promo.

Sure, they’re indicators of how the U.S. economy is performing. But even more directly, they’re relevant for the reason that the more people clients have on payrolls, the more folks there are for which to provide corporate gifts, new-hire packages, retention initiatives and other branded-merchandise solutions.

With that in mind, here’s a statistical snapshot of the current American jobs landscape. The big takeaway: Hiring appears to be slowing down and some sectors are ripe for continued layoffs, but overall the U.S. employment situation remains strong.

More than
5.6 million
Number of jobs the U.S. economy has added since the start of 2022. (Federal data)

236,000
Number of positions by which nonfarm payroll employment in the U.S. increased in March 2023. That was down from February (326,000) and below the average monthly gain of 334,000 from the previous six months. (Labor Department)

INDUSTRIES TRENDING UP:

In March, employment increased in the sectors of leisure and hospitality, government, professional and business services, and healthcare. (Labor Department)

AT RISK:

Workers in information services, transportation/warehousing, construction, repair/personal/other services, and manufacturing have the highest risk of being laid off in the coming months. (The Conference Board)

3.5%
U.S. unemployment rate as of March 2023, showing little change. “Job gains at many services businesses are helping offset cuts at large companies in industries such as technology, finance and entertainment,” The Wall Street Journal reported. (Labor Department)

$9.9 Million
Number of U.S. job openings in February, the most recent month for which there is data. It was the first time in nearly two years that the figure fell below 10 million, but still remained above the 7 million openings in February 2020 – the last pre-pandemic month. (Labor Department)

$5.9 Million
Number of unemployed people seeking work in February. That’s below the 9.9 million open positions, suggesting the job market remained tight. (Labor Department)

42%
of chief human resources officers (CHROs) expect hiring to increase in the next six months. (The Conference Board)

34%
of CHROs believe hiring will remain unchanged over the next six months. (The Conference Board)

37%
of CEOs expect to expand their workforce over the next 12 months, a Q1 survey found. That was down from 44% that expected to do so in Q4 2022. (The Conference Board)

19%
of CHROs expect retention to decrease in the next six months, while 45% expect retention to increase; 36% expect no change. (The Conference Board)