US hiring growth has leveled out since the late summer, according to LinkedIn’s November Workforce Report. However, time will tell whether this is a temporary breather or a more sustained pause. 

Gross hiring in the US rose 3.8% year over year in September; seasonally adjusted national hiring remained steady, edging down just 0.3% from September to October 2018.

The public safety industry posted the largest year-over-year hiring increase, up 10.3% in October, according to the report. Corporate services and software & IT services followed, up 10.2% and 9.7% respectively.

Austin, Texas; Denver; and Nashville, Tenn., continue to attract the most workers across the US. For every 10,000 LinkedIn members in Austin, 121 arrived in the last 12 months. Conversely, the cities losing the most people are Wichita, Kan.; State College, Pa.; and Bryan-College Station, Texas.

LinkedIn noted the US labor market is tightening, which translates to growing national skills shortages and shrinking national skills surpluses. This is good news for workers with skills in high demand, but increasingly challenging for employers to seek out new talent pools to find workers with the skills they need. 

The LinkedIn Workforce Report is a monthly report on employment trends in the US workforce, highlighting workforce trends in the US and across 20 cities. Insights include whether hiring is up, down or flat; which skills cities need most; and where workers are moving to and from.