Despite Slower Hiring, U.S. Employers Shop Around for Talent in July

HOLMDEL, N.J. [August 1, 2019] – U.S. employers’ hiring activity declined in July, yet new job openings saw an uptick, indicating employers still face challenges in filling roles. Before seasonal adjustments, new hires declined 2.4% and new job openings increased 10.4% in July, according to iCIMS’ Monthly Hiring Indicator (MHI).

 

The MHI is a leading economic indicator published by iCIMS, drawing upon its database of more than 75 million applications and 3 million jobs each year. New hires translate directly into payroll growth, after netting out departures, layoffs and other separations.

 

“This is another sign that job growth is moderating. Companies are still hiring, but they’re being a bit choosier about which roles to fill and which people to fill them with,” said Josh Wright, chief economist at iCIMS. “Between a slower economy in the near-term and ongoing digital transformation in the medium-term, employers have to make every hire count.”

 

July 2019 U.S. New Hires and Openings Highlights:

  • Job openings rose across the sectors that iCIMS tracks, with the biggest increase in retail (19.7%) followed by financial services (8.7%) and education & health services (8%), before seasonal adjustments.
  • Hires in July were down almost across the board, except in education & health services, which saw a modest increase of 1.1%.
  • The four major regions showed similar patterns of moderate strength in job openings, but weakness in hires.
  • Most of the 18 cities that iCIMS tracks saw a decline in hires, except two – Detroit (up 9%) and Los Angeles (up 7.9%).
  • In another sign of a potential a comeback, Detroit posted strong growth in job openings (36.8%) and new hires (9%).

About the iCIMS Monthly Hiring Indicator (MHI) Methodology: 

The iCIMS Monthly Hiring Indicator (MHI) measures job openings and new hires, based on iCIMS system data, which is generated by user activity within our platform. iCIMS processes more than 1 million hires per quarter and 75 million applications per year. While iCIMS supports employers across the globe, the MHI is based on U.S. hiring activity only. The figures present both indexes of hiring activity and their month-over-month percentage change, using a fixed panel of customers. To facilitate comparison with benchmark data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, iCIMS publishes its indexes both with and without seasonal adjustments. Data from the MHI has been referenced by Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, Fox Business and NBC. To learn more about iCIMS’ MHI, visit iCIMS Hiring Insights, where the latest data and details on the methodology are both available for download.

About iCIMS

iCIMS is a leading provider of talent acquisition technology that enables organizations everywhere to build winning workforces. For over 20 years, iCIMS has been at the forefront of talent acquisition transformation. iCIMS empowers thousands of organizations worldwide with the right tools to meet their evolving needs across the talent journey and drive business success. Its AI-powered hiring platform is designed to improve efficiency, cut recruiting costs and build exceptional experiences for candidates and recruiters. For more information, visit www.icims.com.