The US is adding jobs on net, but it's still a tough time to be job-searching.
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From about 8,000 layoffs at Meta to thousands of cuts at Amazon, media outlets have been following high-profile employment changes.However, cuts at major tech companies this year represent only a sliver of what's happening in the massive job market, filled with millions of workers and unemployed Americans across different industries and business sizes.That larger job market is showing renewed strength, although there are still some bumps in the road. Overall job growth is more robust, layoffs remain pretty low, and it's not just the healthcare sector keeping it alive. On the downside, wage growth isn't keeping up with inflation anymore, while rising long-term unemployment and low hiring rates suggest it's still hard to find a new job if you're out of work.The monthly jobs report out on June 5 showed the economy had three straight months of robust gains through May, well above what's needed to keep unemployment steady and the highest three-month average since early 2024."This spring really is solidifying that the labor market is returning to a growth pattern," said ZipRecruiter economist Nicole Bachaud. "Businesses are reaccelerating hiring, jobs are growing across different industries, and there's just a general sense of renewed energy in the market that was largely stagnant for most of the last year."With now five months of data in 2026 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, we break down how the job market is looking.
