Job Search Statistics 2026
How long a job search takes, how many jobs are open, and how fast employers move.
Key takeaways
- The median unemployed worker in the US had been looking for 11.4 weeks in August 2026.
- The average unemployment spell was more than twice the median, at 26.3 weeks.
- 27.0% of unemployed people had been out of work for 27 weeks or longer.
- There were 7.3 million job openings in the US in July 2026, a rate of 4.4%.
- Employers made 5.1 million hires in July 2026, a hires rate of 3.2%.
- 3.1 million people quit a job in July 2026, a quits rate of 1.9%.
- Layoffs and discharges were 1.7 million, a rate of 1.0%.
- Average time to hire fell 23% between February 2020 and August 2022, then climbed back to roughly January 2019 levels by March 2025.
- Median tenure with a current employer was 3.9 years in January 2024, down from 4.1 years two years earlier.
- Private-sector median tenure was 3.5 years against 6.2 years in the public sector.
- Workers aged 25 to 34 had a median tenure of 2.7 years; those aged 55 to 64 had 9.6 years.
- Employers expected to hire 5.6% more graduates from the Class of 2026 than from the Class of 2025.
How long does a job search take?
In August 2026 the median unemployed worker in the US had been looking for 11.4 weeks, but the average spell was 26.3 weeks because a long tail of searches runs past six months.
Median duration of unemployment, seasonally adjusted.
Average (mean) duration of unemployment, seasonally adjusted.
Share of unemployed people who had been jobless for 27 weeks or more — 1.93 million people.
How many jobs are actually open?
There were 7.3 million job openings in the US on the last business day of July 2026, a job openings rate of 4.4%.
Job openings on the last business day of the month.
Job openings rate — openings as a share of total employment plus openings.
Hires made during the month, a hires rate of 3.2%.
How many people leave a job each month?
3.1 million people quit a job in July 2026, a quits rate of 1.9%, while 1.7 million were laid off or discharged.
Quits during the month, a quits rate of 1.9%.
Layoffs and discharges during the month, a rate of 1.0%.
Total separations during the month — quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations combined.
How long do employers take to fill a job?
Indeed measures time to hire as the gap between a job being created and its first reported hire; that measure fell 23% between February 2020 and August 2022 and had climbed back to roughly January 2019 levels by March 2025.
Fall in indexed average time to hire between February 2020, the last full pre-pandemic month, and August 2022, its recent low.
Reduction in time to hire associated with a one-point rise in the quits rate. Indeed reports this as a correlation from a simple regression and notes that a more robust econometric study would be needed to confirm it.
Increase in time to hire associated with a one-point rise in the labour force participation rate, on the same caveated regression.
How long do people stay in a job once hired?
Median tenure with a current employer was 3.9 years in January 2024, and it is far shorter early in a career: 2.7 years for workers aged 25 to 34 against 9.6 years for those aged 55 to 64.
Median years wage and salary workers had been with their current employer, down from 4.1 years in January 2022.
Median tenure in the private sector against the public sector — government employees stay roughly twice as long.
Median tenure for workers aged 25 to 34, against 9.6 years for workers aged 55 to 64.
What is the hiring outlook for new graduates?
Employers told NACE in spring 2026 that they expected to hire 5.6% more graduates from the Class of 2026 than from the Class of 2025, with the largest employers planning the biggest increases.
Expected increase in new college graduate hiring for the Class of 2026 over the Class of 2025.
Expected increase among employers with more than 5,000 staff — the strongest gain of any size band.
Respondents to the Job Outlook 2026 Spring Update, surveyed between 12 February and 17 March 2026. A survey this size carries a wide margin of error; treat it as a signal of direction, not a precise forecast.
Using these figures
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SchoolWhool, “Job Search Statistics 2026”, updated September 16, 2026. https://www.schoolwhool.com/statistics/job-searchHow this page is maintained
Figures are read from primary sources — statistical agencies, industry bodies, and the research teams that ran the survey — never from another roundup. Each entry records when it was last read. Where a source describes its own number as a correlation or a small sample, that caveat is kept rather than dropped. Sources are re-checked and the page is re-dated when the underlying releases update.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Indeed Hiring Lab · National Association of Colleges and Employers