Resources/Updated October 2026
Labor Market Data for Recruiters: 35 Trackers Worth Bookmarking
The jobs reports, staffing indexes, AI trackers and recruiting benchmarks that tell you where hiring is heading, with how often each one updates and what to use it for. Every link checked against the publisher's own page.
- 35trackers
- 32free to read
- 25update monthly or faster
Every month
We read these trackers so you do not have to. The Staffing Market Brief sums up what moved.
35 trackers
Nothing matches those filters.
US jobs data 14
Employment Situation (Jobs Report)
The official monthly count of US payroll jobs added, the unemployment rate and average hourly earnings by industry.
Use it for: Framing every client conversation about hiring conditions
MonthlyFree
Usually first Friday of the month, 8:30am ETChecked Oct 5, 2026
Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS)
Monthly US job openings, hires, quits and layoffs by industry and state, showing how tight the market is.
Use it for: Showing clients how many openings compete for each candidate
MonthlyFree
About five weeks after the month it coversChecked Oct 5, 2026
Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims
New and continuing jobless benefit claims each week, the fastest official signal of rising or falling layoffs.
Use it for: Spotting layoff waves before the monthly reports
WeeklyFree
Thursdays, 8:30am ETChecked Oct 5, 2026
ADP National Employment Report
Private sector job change and pay growth for job stayers and changers, built from payroll data on 26 million workers.
Use it for: Previewing the jobs report and quoting pay growth for job changers
MonthlyFree
Wednesday before jobs FridayChecked Oct 5, 2026
Indeed Job Postings Index
Job postings on Indeed compared with February 2020, plus advertised wage growth, pay transparency and remote share by country.
Use it for: Pitching clients on real time hiring demand
WeeklyFree
Data refreshed weeklyChecked Oct 5, 2026
LinkedIn Workforce Report (US)
Monthly US hiring rate trends from LinkedIn member data, broken out by industry and 20 large metro areas.
Use it for: Comparing hiring momentum across your client cities
MonthlyFree
Mid month, covering the prior monthChecked Oct 5, 2026
Revelio Public Labor Statistics (RPLS)
A free alternative jobs report covering employment change, job openings, hiring and attrition, salaries and WARN layoff notices.
Use it for: Getting jobs numbers a day before the BLS
MonthlyFree
Day before BLS jobs FridayChecked Oct 5, 2026
Employment Trends Index (ETI)
A composite of eight labor indicators that points to where payroll employment is heading in coming months.
Use it for: Forecasting hiring demand for the next quarter
MonthlyFree
Usually the Monday after the BLS jobs reportChecked Oct 5, 2026
Help Wanted OnLine Index (HWOL)
Monthly change in advertised online job vacancies across the US, built from Lightcast job ad data.
Use it for: Tracking online job ad volume by month
MonthlyFree
Checked Oct 5, 2026
Challenger Report (Job Cuts)
Announced US layoffs and hiring plans by industry, including the reasons employers give, such as AI.
Use it for: Finding sectors releasing talent you can place
MonthlyFree
Early each month, just before the jobs reportChecked Oct 5, 2026
FRED Economic Data
A free database of thousands of economic series, including every major labor series, with chartable history and downloads.
Use it for: Building charts for client decks
LiveFree
Series update as source agencies publishChecked Oct 5, 2026
Wage Growth Tracker
Median yearly pay growth for individual workers, split by job switchers and stayers, age, industry and wage level.
Use it for: Backing up salary expectations in offer talks
MonthlyFree
Monthly, after Current Population Survey dataChecked Oct 5, 2026
Labor Matters (Gad Levanon)
A labor economist's commentary on jobs data, productivity and AI's effect on hiring, often posted right after major releases.
Use it for: Getting expert reads on each jobs report
WeeklyPartly free
Several posts a monthChecked Oct 5, 2026
Glassdoor Employee Confidence Index
The share of US workers expecting their employer's business to improve in six months, a signal of worker mood and quit risk.
Use it for: Timing outreach to passive candidates
MonthlyFree
Early in the following monthChecked Oct 5, 2026
Staffing industry 4
ASA Staffing Index
Weekly change in US temporary and contract staffing employment, indexed to June 2006.
Use it for: Benchmarking your temp volume against the industry
WeeklyFree
Weekly data with a monthly summaryChecked Oct 5, 2026
ASA Staffing Employment and Sales Survey
Quarterly temp and contract staffing jobs, sales and payroll, with sector detail for firms that take part.
Use it for: Benchmarking staffing revenue by sector
QuarterlyPartly free
Full report for firms that take partChecked Oct 5, 2026
Temporary Help Services Employment
The official count of US temp help jobs, a long running early signal for the wider labor market.
Use it for: Tracking the temp staffing cycle
MonthlyFree
Same day as the BLS jobs reportChecked Oct 5, 2026
SIA Bullhorn Staffing Indicator
Weekly hours worked by US temp workers by segment, such as IT, light industrial and office, compared with last year.
Use it for: Seeing which staffing segments are heating up
WeeklyFree
Weekly chart; check the week shown on the pageChecked Oct 5, 2026
AI and work 8
AI Labor Market Tracker
Monthly measures of AI's effect on jobs, covering AI skills supply, demand for AI talent, wages and changing job content.
Use it for: Advising clients on AI talent demand
MonthlyFree
Start of each monthChecked Oct 5, 2026
Anthropic Economic Index
How people and businesses use Claude across occupations and tasks, showing where AI automates or assists real work.
Use it for: Explaining which job tasks AI is changing
QuarterlyFree
A new report every few monthsChecked Oct 5, 2026
Canaries Dashboard
Employment trends by age and AI exposure from ADP payroll data, highlighting early career workers in exposed occupations.
Use it for: Discussing entry level hiring and AI
MonthlyFree
Monthly updatesChecked Oct 5, 2026
Ramp AI Index
The share of US businesses paying for AI tools, by sector, size and vendor, based on real card and invoice spending.
Use it for: Showing clients how fast employers adopt AI
MonthlyFree
MonthlyChecked Oct 5, 2026
Indeed AI Tracker
The share of job postings mentioning AI or generative AI terms, tracked daily by country.
Use it for: Proving AI skills demand in job ads
MonthlyFree
Refreshed monthly; also on the Hiring Lab data portalChecked Oct 5, 2026
AI at Work Report
An index rating how much generative AI could transform nearly 2,900 work skills and the jobs that use them.
Use it for: Advising candidates on future proof skills
AnnualFree
Each SeptemberChecked Oct 5, 2026
Work Trend Index
A yearly survey of workers and leaders on AI agents, workloads and how organizations restructure work.
Use it for: Citing leader views on AI and headcount
AnnualFree
Each springChecked Oct 5, 2026
AI Index Report
A comprehensive yearly data review of AI progress, investment, adoption and labor market effects worldwide.
Use it for: Grounding AI talk in credible statistics
AnnualFree
Each AprilChecked Oct 5, 2026
Recruiting benchmarks 6
Talent Trends Reports
Benchmarks from millions of applications on recruiter workload, application volume, offer acceptance and recruiting operations.
Use it for: Benchmarking recruiter productivity
QuarterlyFree
Several themed reports a yearChecked Oct 5, 2026
Recruiting Benchmarks Report
Yearly benchmarks from 165 million applications on reqs per recruiter, interviews per hire, pass rates and source channels.
Use it for: Setting realistic funnel targets with hiring managers
AnnualFree
Late each yearChecked Oct 5, 2026
The Hire Standard (Hiring Benchmarks)
Hiring benchmarks from over 640 million applications across 6,000 companies on time to hire, volume and recruiter performance.
Use it for: Comparing your hiring speed with peers
AnnualFree
Latest edition March 2026Checked Oct 5, 2026
Future of Talent Report
LinkedIn's yearly survey of talent leaders on AI in recruiting, sourcing strategy and how the recruiter role is changing.
Use it for: Planning your recruiting team strategy
AnnualFree
Replaces the Future of Recruiting reportChecked Oct 5, 2026
Recruiting Benchmarking
Benchmarks from HR executives on cost per hire, time to fill and recruiting budgets by organization size.
Use it for: Justifying recruiting budgets and fees
AnnualPartly free
Free data brief; full benchmarks for membersChecked Oct 5, 2026
iCIMS Insights Workforce Report
Monthly applicant tracking data on openings, applications and hires by industry, with US and EMEA coverage.
Use it for: Tracking applicant volume against openings
MonthlyFree
MonthlyChecked Oct 5, 2026
UK and global 3
Labour Market Overview, UK
The official UK release on employment, unemployment, vacancies, payrolled employees and pay growth.
Use it for: Briefing UK clients on market conditions
MonthlyFree
Mid month, usually a TuesdayChecked Oct 5, 2026
KPMG and REC UK Report on Jobs
A survey of around 400 UK recruiters on permanent placements, temp billings, vacancies, candidate supply and starting pay.
Use it for: Benchmarking UK agency performance
MonthlyFree
Usually a Monday early in the monthChecked Oct 5, 2026
Indeed Hiring Lab UK
Monthly UK and Ireland snapshots of job postings, advertised wages, unemployment and vacancies from Indeed data.
Use it for: Tracking UK hiring demand by sector
MonthlyFree
Monthly snapshot near month endChecked Oct 5, 2026
Missing one?
Suggest a tracker
Free to suggest. We add trackers that are updated at least once a year and that recruiters or staffing firms can use. We check each one before it goes up.
Which labor market numbers should a recruiter watch every month?
Start with three. The BLS jobs report on the first Friday tells you whether hiring is speeding up or slowing down. JOLTS tells you how many openings there are and how often people quit, which is the best single read on how hard candidates are to move. The Indeed Job Postings Index updates every week, so it shows a turn in demand before the official numbers do. Add the ASA Staffing Index if you run a staffing desk.
Is there a free way to get jobs data before the government report?
Yes. The ADP National Employment Report comes out on the Wednesday before the jobs report and Revelio Public Labor Statistics the day before. Both use private payroll or profile data, so they will not match the BLS exactly, but they tell you which way it is likely to go. Weekly jobless claims every Thursday are the quickest signal of layoffs.
How do I find out how AI is changing hiring?
Filter by “AI and work”. Revelio’s AI Labor Market Tracker and the Stanford Canaries Dashboard track jobs and hiring by AI exposure each month, the Ramp AI Index shows how many businesses actually pay for AI tools, and the Anthropic Economic Index shows which work tasks people hand to AI. For what it means on the desk, see our lesson Will AI replace recruiters?
Where can I benchmark my recruiting team?
The recruiting benchmark reports from Ashby, Gem and Greenhouse are free and built from millions of real applications, so they cover time to hire, interviews per hire and recruiter workload. SHRM has cost per hire and time to fill benchmarks, with the full data for members. Put your own numbers next to them with our free cost per hire calculator.
How do I use this data with clients and hiring managers?
Pick one number that backs up the point you are making and name the source. “Quits are down, so fewer people are moving” is a reason to raise the salary range. “Postings in this field are up again” is a reason to move faster on a candidate. Each card says what the tracker is good for. Download the CSV if you want the whole list in a spreadsheet.
How often is this list checked?
Every link was opened and checked against the publisher’s own page, and each card shows the date. We drop a tracker when it stops publishing and add new ones as they appear. Each month the Staffing Market Brief sums up what the main trackers showed.
