US Job Market Update in February 2025: Workforce Continues to Maintain Optimistic Outlook for the New Year

The job market is showing signs of recovery, particularly in sectors offering remote opportunities, according to the latest Labor Market Update. The data, sourced from Indeed and other labor market sources, reveals that high-remote sectors' job postings are still slightly below pre-pandemic levels year-over-year, but are trending upward.

As of Jan. 31, 2025, the Job Postings Index stood 11% above its pre-pandemic baseline. This indicates that the level of job postings in sectors offering remote opportunities is starting to rebound after years of declines. High-remote, professional sectors are now showing increases after years of steady declines.

The methodology for determining remote/hybrid sectors involves sorting each sector by their average remote/hybrid share of job postings in 2023. This approach ensures a comprehensive understanding of the remote job market trends.

The data for several dates in 2021 and 2022 are missing and were interpolated. Despite this, the overall level of job postings has remained steady for months. However, it's important to note that the number of job postings on Indeed.com is not indicative of potential revenue or earnings of Indeed or its parent company, Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd.

US searches on Indeed include queries on both the desktop and mobile versions of the platform. Job search volume fell by 32% between Dec. 10 and Christmas Day in 2025, but rebounded to 22% above Dec. 10 levels by Jan. 29, 2025.

The size of the job sector in 2025, measured by the number of newly posted job ads in fields traditionally offering more remote work, shows a significant decline compared to 2020. For example, junior or entry-level positions in tech sectors offering remote work, such as software development, have decreased by over 50%. This contraction relative to 2020 particularly in remote-capable roles is a concerning trend.

Despite these challenges, the increases in high-remote sectors may be small, but they're on the right track. The job postings index for high-remote sectors hovered at -0.07% as of the latest data, indicating a slight improvement.

On a more positive note, the quits rate has been below pre-pandemic levels for over a year as of Feb. 7, 2025. This suggests that employees are more likely to stay in their jobs, which could contribute to a more stable workforce.

The Indeed Wage Tracker, including sector-level data, is regularly updated and can be accessed on the data portal. This tool provides valuable insights into wage trends across different sectors and can help job seekers make informed decisions about their career paths.

In conclusion, while the job market is still recovering, there are positive signs of improvement, particularly in high-remote sectors. As the data continues to be monitored and updated, it will be interesting to see how these trends evolve in the coming months.