The Talivity Talent Market Index

    Your monthly labor market index—built for talent leaders

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    Watch the Talent Market Index for July 2026

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    Market analyst's callout board for July 2026

    The Jobs Report Gave Back Its Surprise

    For a few months this spring, the labor market kept beating expectations, and it felt like maybe we were turning a corner. June took that back. 57,000 jobs against a forecast of 115,000, half. May's big 172,000 print, the one everyone celebrated, was revised down to 129,000. April and May combined lost 74,000 jobs to revisions. The gains that did show up were concentrated in professional and business services, social assistance, and healthcare — and within professional services, about 21,000 of the 36,000 was administrative and staffing work. Companies aren't buying workforce. They're renting it. It's not a recovery, but it's usually what shows up right before demand comes back.

    The Real Story Is Who Left the Market

    Unemployment fell to 4.2%, but for the wrong reason: participation dropped to 61.5%, the lowest since March 2021, and household employment fell by 507,000. Quits have now sat at or below 2% for nearly a year. Workers aren't losing jobs. They're standing still. Nobody's getting fired, and nobody's leaving — which should worry talent acquisition more than layoffs would, because the candidate pool isn't shrinking from news you can see. It's shrinking quietly.

    The Frozen Market Premium

    Eight of nine segments rose in June. Finance & Ops hit 2.99, nearly triple baseline. Light Industrial climbed 175% year-over-year, and Transportation & Logistics rose 31% in a single month. When fewer people quit, the active candidate pool shrinks — employers aren't competing for more people, they're competing harder for fewer of them. A frozen market doesn't lower the cost of talent. It makes attention expensive. Still, one month isn't a trend: the temp hiring signal could stall, and the white-collar gains are real but narrow. The employers responding right now know exactly which segments and markets have repriced, and have shifted from volume to precision.

    Talent Market Index™

    The Talivity Talent Market Index (TMI) offers a fresh perspective on talent supply and demand dynamics across industries. It tracks the fluctuating prices employers pay to attract talent through paid advertising across diverse media channels.

    Talent Market Index by Job Family

    Current month performance indicators for July 2026

    View Data As Chart

    Top Performers (TMI)

    Finance & Operations
    TMI: 2.99
    +26.69%
    MoM
    Healthcare
    TMI: 2.00
    +6.95%
    MoM
    IT & Related
    TMI: 1.80
    +15.38%
    MoM

    Other Sectors

    Sales
    +18.92%MoM
    TMI: 1.76
    Retail
    -17.70%MoM
    TMI: 1.72
    Light Industrial
    +15.44%MoM
    TMI: 1.57
    Transportation & Logistics
    +31.40%MoM
    TMI: 1.13
    Food Services
    +0.96%MoM
    TMI: 1.05
    Hospitality
    +12.05%MoM
    TMI: 0.93

    Key Findings - July 2026

    Market Leaders

    Finance & Operations leads the board at 2.99, nearly triple baseline. Healthcare Support just crossed 2.0, even as hiring in the segment slows — a supply story, not a demand one. IT sits at 1.80 and Sales at 1.76, with companies continuing to protect roles closest to revenue.

    Biggest MoM Movers

    Transportation & Logistics posted the largest single-month move on the board, up 31%, crossing baseline for the first time. Sales rose 19% and IT rose 15% this month. Hospitality, still the only segment cheaper than a year ago, rose 12% month-over-month.

    YoY Leaders

    Light Industrial posted the largest year-over-year increase of any segment, up 175% — a sharp reversal for a line that was among the cheapest a year ago. Finance & Operations rose 141% year-over-year, the highest overall pricing on the board. Retail is up 129% year-over-year, even after this month's pullback.

    Macro Context

    Professional services was June's biggest gainer in the jobs report, with consulting, legal, and computer design all adding jobs — consistent with the pricing pressure in Finance & Operations. Retail cut 7,500 jobs in June while its index rose, and Hospitality shed 61,000 jobs while its index also rose — in both cases, fewer postings are firming prices. The bigger picture: this isn't one labor market, it's nine, and where a hiring budget needs to go depends on which of these lines it touches.

    Industry Breakdown & Analysis

    Detailed insights by sector for July 2026

    TMI: 2.99
    Finance & Operations
    +26.69%MoM
    |
    +141.13%YoY
    TMI: 2.00
    Healthcare
    +6.95%MoM
    |
    +85.19%YoY
    TMI: 1.80
    IT & Related
    +15.38%MoM
    |
    +51.26%YoY
    TMI: 1.76
    Sales
    +18.92%MoM
    |
    +61.47%YoY
    TMI: 1.72
    Retail
    -17.70%MoM
    |
    +129.33%YoY
    TMI: 1.57
    Light Industrial
    +15.44%MoM
    |
    +175.44%YoY
    TMI: 1.13
    Transportation & Logistics
    +31.40%MoM
    |
    +117.31%YoY
    TMI: 1.05
    Food Services
    +0.96%MoM
    |
    +101.92%YoY
    TMI: 0.93
    Hospitality
    +12.05%MoM
    |
    -23.14%YoY

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