Stephanie Ferguson Melhorn
Senior Director, Workforce & International Labor Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Updated
June 13, 2025
Published
November 21, 2023
The U.S. is in a worker shortage, meaning if every unemployed person found a job, there would still be open jobs. Many industries are struggling from the worker shortage, and this page captures data about the most impacted industries.
For a broad overview of the state of our workforce, check out our America Works Data Center. An in-depth look at how the worker shortage is impacting the nation is here, and a state-by-state breakdown tracking the worker shortage is here. The data is available here
State of American Business
Nationally, the labor force participation rate of prime working age individuals (24 to 54 years old) was at a 20-year high of 83.9% in August 2024 and now hovers around 83.6%.
Although there are thousands of individuals joining the workforce every month, many industries are still struggling to find the workers they need to fill open jobs. Even if every unemployed worker were to fill an open job within their respective industry, there would still be unfilled positions, highlighting the widespread labor shortage.
Some industries do find themselves in a labor surplus, meaning they have more workers than available jobs. In the construction industry, the number of unemployed workers with experience exceeds the available job openings. There was an average of 383,917 job vacancies per month in 2023, while the monthly average of individuals with experience in this field seeking employment amounts to 480,333.
It's worth noting that a labor surplus does not ensure that all positions will be occupied, as workers may not necessarily be located in the geographic areas where the open positions are situated. It also does not imply that an industry will have all the workers it needs in future years.
Low unemployment rates create a challenge for critical industries
In the U.S., a healthy unemployment rate typically falls between 3% and 5%. Industries with lower-than-average unemployment rates have fewer experienced candidates to choose from when filling their job openings. This situation leads to heightened competition among businesses in these industries as they vie for the limited pool of available talent.
For example, the healthcare industry, nursing specifically, falls far below the national unemployment rate, with only 1.6% of nurses being unemployed. By 2032, it is projected that there will be an average of 193,1000 job openings for registered nurses (RNs) per year. However, in the decade between 2022 and 2032, the U.S. is only expected to have a total of 177,400 nurses enter the workforce, less than the required number to fill just one years of projected openings.
The manufacturing industry faced a major setback after losing roughly 1.4 million jobs in 2020. Since then, the industry has made significant strides toward recovery, making a concerted effort to address job vacancies. While durable goods manufacturing has seen a more substantial recovery compared to nondurable goods manufacturing, as of April 2025, a gap persists, with 313,000 durable goods manufacturing job openings yet to be filled.
Hiring rates outpace quit rates across industries
In addition to unemployment rates, the U.S. also tracks hiring rates and quit rates, which can be a barometer of the health of the workforce. While there are a significant percentage of people quitting their jobs, a higher share of people are being hired into new jobs.
Across all industries, hiring rates have continuously outpaced quit rates. Looking at leisure and hospitality, the industry lost 781,000 workers in January 2024, but 1.05 million people were hired into the industry that same month. In fact, since November 2020, leisure and hospitality has maintained the highest hiring rate among all industries, ranging between 6% to nearly 19% (the national average has hovered around 3.7% since January 2024).
Changing work environments bring new unemployment challenges
The prevalence of remote and hybrid work has changed the workforce landscape for many industries. Now with many jobs offering flexibility and the opportunity to work remotely, industries that require in-person attendance have an extra challenge in recruiting and retailing workers.
Certain industries and occupations need employees to show up in-person to operate. The highest propensity for in-person work exists in the hospitality and food services, transportation, and retail trade industries, where nearly 80% of staff work fully on-site.
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Alternatively, industries with a low amount of physical labor or with customer service tasks are more likely to offer remote options, such as the information and finance sectors, where less than 30% of staff are fully on-site.
Learn about how the U.S. Chamber is driving workforce solutions through the America Works Initiative. For more information on the America Works Initiative, contact Stephanie Ferguson Melhorn at sferguson@uschamber.com.
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About the authors
Stephanie Ferguson Melhorn
Stephanie Ferguson Melhorn is the Senior Director of Workforce & International Labor Policy. Her work on the labor shortage has been cited in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Associated Press.
Makinizi Hoover
Makinizi Hoover is the Senior Manager of Strategic Advocacy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. She leads the housing portfolio and mobilizes resources to address high-priority issues, ensuring effective advocacy on key legislative and regulatory priorities.
