WASHINGTON, October 1 — The U.S. economy added 56.9k jobs in September 2026, according to Revelio Public Labor Statistics (RPLS), marking a continuation of job growth despite a cooling labor market. The bottom line: employers are hiring, but demand is significantly cooler than during the post-pandemic boom, with job openings declining across most sectors even as payrolls expand. By the numbers, job gains were driven by Public Administration and Health Care and Social Assistance, which saw significant increases in employment.
Public Administration also saw a 4.0% rise in active job postings from August to September, while Transportation & Warehousing postings increased by 1.3%. However, overall job openings declined by 1.8% month-over-month, with 11 of the 16 sectors tracked by RPLS reporting declines.
The Leisure & Hospitality sector experienced the largest drop, with a 14.6% decrease in demand. The Information and Transportation sectors also saw declines in job postings. Investors will note that AI adoption is slowing, with the number of new firms adopting AI tools down by 17% from July 2026, continuing a decline from the spring peak.
Despite this, the work within jobs is evolving, with 90% of year-over-year changes in work activities now occurring within occupations rather than through shifts in the occupational mix. This shift is evident in roles like Executive Assistants, who are now performing more strategic coordination and less invoice processing.
Revelio Labs’ AI Labor Market Tracker provides a detailed view of these changes, allowing users to explore how tasks within specific occupations have evolved since 2022. The figure that matters is that the U.S. economy continued to expand in September, albeit in a low-hire, low-fire mode. Employer demand remains significantly cooler than during the post-pandemic hiring boom, even as job growth persists.
Looking ahead, analysts will watch whether the divergence between rising payrolls and falling job openings persists, and how evolving task content within occupations affects productivity and wage trends in the coming months.
