The Talivity Talent Market Index

Finance & Operations is the most expensive segment at 3.46, up nearly 16% in July, even as financial activities lost 14,000 jobs and sit 121,000 below their May 2025 peak. IT & Related rose more than 18% despite little overall employment change in the information sector, pointing to concentrated investment in AI, data, cybersecurity, and technical infrastructure roles. Healthcare stays elevated, up another 4.5% even as job growth came in below its recent average.

Transportation & Logistics fell almost 32% this month, nearly reversing last month's 31% increase and dropping back below baseline — a swing the script flags as volatility rather than a settled trend. IT & Related rose more than 18% month over month, and Finance & Operations rose nearly 16%, both continuing to climb.

Finance & Operations leads at 170% YoY, followed by Light Industrial at nearly 167% and Retail at more than 153%. IT & Related follows close behind at nearly 107% YoY — all four segments getting more expensive even as underlying job counts shrink or stay flat.

July payrolls fell by 23,000, below the prior year's 34,000-per-month average, extending three straight months of downward revisions (May cut from 129K to 63K, June from 57K to 20K — 103,000 jobs removed). Unemployment fell to 4.1%, but participation dropped to 61.4%, the lowest since February 2021, with prime-age workers pulling back too. Six of nine segments got more expensive in July even as hiring volume falls, because the TMI measures the cost of capturing attention, not job creation.