After a disappointing April jobs report, hiring is on the rise again. ThinkWhy, a labor market data and analytics firm, released its national jobs and industry performance outlook following an announcement from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that the economy added 559,000 jobs in May, with the unemployment rate at 5.8 percent. 

While a move in the right direction, talent acquisition professionals and hiring managers still struggle to find and attract talent as consumer demand continues to increase.

“The challenge to find skilled and service workers remains a real threat to company growth and productivity. The difficulty of filling both white- and blue-collar roles creates hardships to keep up with demand across industries – inevitably impacting a full economic recovery in those sectors and the local areas in which they operate,” says Jay Denton, chief analyst for ThinkWhy.

Of the 7.6 million jobs that remain lost from the pandemic, close to 2.5 million are in the leisure and hospitality industry. But, other industries are experiencing hiring issues.

“While some policy issues focus on blue-collar jobs, the labor market is already incredibly tight for many occupations. As of May, jobs in management, technology, legal, architecture and healthcare practitioners already had unemployment rates of 2.9 percent or less,” Denton explains.

The following labor markets landed in the top two spots for job recovery year-to-date through April 2021: New York-Newark-Jersey City (111,200) and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim (103,000), while Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue landed in the 10th spot with 40,000 jobs recovered.