Employment is expanding at a 3.1% pace and job openings have climbed to 10.4 million in the latest snapshot. Hard to fill roles remain a constraint, with 28% of employers reporting shortages. The result is a clear split between where demand is rising and where hiring still struggles.
Key Takeaways
- In 2022, the services sector employed 47.2% of the global workforce
- In the US, leisure and hospitality jobs grew by 2.1 million since February 2020
- Global labor force participation rate for women was 47% in 2023
- In the United States, the unemployment rate for adults aged 25 and over with a bachelor's degree or higher was 2.1% in October 2023
- Global median weekly earnings for full-time workers were $1,200 in 2023
Job industry statistics show steady hiring growth, with the strongest gains in high demand sectors.
Related reading
01 · Category
Employment by Sector19 stats
01
In 2022, the services sector employed 47.2% of the global workforce
02
In the US, healthcare and social assistance added 2.4 million jobs from 2020 to 2023
03
India's agriculture sector accounted for 42.3% of employment in 2022-23
04
EU manufacturing employment was 29.5 million in 2022
05
In China, the construction sector employed 50.2 million people in 2022
06
US retail trade employment stood at 15.2 million in 2023
07
Brazil's services sector represented 66.8% of total employment in 2023
08
Japan's information and communication sector had 4.1 million employees in 2022
09
Australia's mining sector employed 2.5% of the workforce in 2023
10
In Germany, the automotive industry employed 830,000 people in 2022
11
Canada's public administration sector had 3.3 million jobs in 2023
12
UK financial services employed 1.17 million in London alone in 2022
13
France's tourism sector supported 2.7 million direct jobs in 2022
14
South Korea's semiconductor industry employed 450,000 in 2023
15
Italy's fashion and textile sector had 400,000 employees in 2022
16
Mexico's maquiladora industry employed 3.1 million in 2023
17
Spain's renewable energy sector created 120,000 jobs by 2023
18
Sweden's forestry sector employed 75,000 in 2022
19
In the US, professional and business services sector employment grew by 1.2 million in 2023
Interpretation
Employment by Sector Interpretation
The global job market reveals a tapestry of national identities, from India's fields and China's construction sites to London's trading floors and America's hospitals, proving that while we all work, we are often building very different economies.
02 · Category
Job Growth17 stats
01
In the US, leisure and hospitality jobs grew by 2.1 million since February 2020
02
EU ICT specialist employment increased by 1.5 million from 2018 to 2022
03
India's IT-BPM sector added 200,000 jobs in FY 2022-23
04
Japan created 1.4 million new jobs in 2023 despite aging population
05
Australia's healthcare employment rose 15% from 2018 to 2023
06
Germany’s renewable energy jobs reached 353,000 in 2022, up 8%
07
Brazil added 2.8 million formal jobs in 2023
08
Canada’s tech sector grew by 100,000 jobs from 2020-2023
09
UK green jobs increased to 500,000 by 2023
10
France’s digital sector employment hit 1 million in 2023
11
China's digital economy jobs exceeded 190 million in 2022
12
South Korea added 250,000 manufacturing jobs post-COVID by 2023
13
Italy’s tourism jobs recovered to 1.3 million in 2023
14
Mexico’s nearshoring created 100,000 manufacturing jobs in 2023
15
Spain’s e-commerce jobs grew 20% to 150,000 in 2022-23
16
Sweden’s AI-related jobs doubled to 50,000 since 2020
17
US professional services projected to add 2.9 million jobs by 2033
Interpretation
Job Growth Interpretation
The global job market is clearly rewarding a peculiar trifecta: keeping people happy on vacation, keeping people alive in hospitals, and keeping everyone plugged into a digital matrix that, by the way, is now insisting it needs its own army of specialists.
03 · Category
Labor Force Participation20 stats
01
Global labor force participation rate for women was 47% in 2023
02
US labor force participation rate was 62.7% in October 2023
03
EU prime-age male participation rate reached 89.2% in 2022
04
India's female labor force participation rose to 37% in 2022-23
05
Japan's overall participation rate was 62.5% in 2023
06
Australia's participation rate hit 66.8% in August 2023
07
Germany's labor force participation for 15-74 was 78.2% in 2023
08
Brazil's participation rate was 62.5% in Q4 2023
09
Canada's participation rate for seniors (65+) increased to 15.4% in 2023
10
UK's participation rate fell to 62.5% in late 2023 due to illness
11
France’s participation rate for women aged 25-54 was 82.5% in 2022
12
China's urban participation rate was 66.3% in 2023
13
South Korea's elderly participation rate was 34.1% in 2023
14
Italy’s overall participation rate was 65.1% in 2023
15
Mexico's participation rate reached 61.6% in Q4 2023
16
Spain’s female participation rate improved to 55.2% in 2023
17
Sweden's participation rate for foreign-born was 75.3% in 2023
18
US prime-age participation rate was 83.4% in 2023
19
Netherlands participation rate was 68.2% in Q3 2023
20
South Africa's participation rate was 59.8% in Q4 2023
Interpretation
Labor Force Participation Interpretation
While the global workforce is graying, galloping, and gradually opening its doors wider to women, the stubbornly low global female participation rate of 47% starkly reminds us that for true economic horsepower, we still need to unlock the full potential of half the population.
More related reading
04 · Category
Unemployment Rates20 stats
01
In the United States, the unemployment rate for adults aged 25 and over with a bachelor's degree or higher was 2.1% in October 2023
02
The youth unemployment rate (ages 16-24) in the EU stood at 14.5% in September 2023
03
India's urban unemployment rate reached 8.1% in Q3 2023, driven by slowdown in manufacturing
04
In Japan, the unemployment rate for women was 2.6% in 2023, lower than the overall rate of 2.6%
05
Australia's long-term unemployment rate (over 12 months) was 0.9% of the labor force in August 2023
06
The Black or African American unemployment rate in the US was 5.6% in October 2023
07
Germany's unemployment rate rose to 5.9% in December 2023 amid economic slowdown
08
In Brazil, the unemployment rate fell to 7.4% in Q4 2023, the lowest in over a decade
09
South Korea's unemployment rate for those aged 15-29 was 6.8% in 2023
10
The UK's unemployment rate increased to 4.3% in the three months to October 2023
11
In Canada, the unemployment rate for Indigenous people was 9.7% in Q3 2023
12
France's youth unemployment rate was 17.8% in Q3 2023
13
China's urban unemployment rate stabilized at 5.2% in December 2023
14
Italy's unemployment rate dropped to 7.3% in November 2023
15
In Mexico, the unemployment rate was 2.8% in Q4 2023
16
Spain's unemployment rate fell to 11.8% in Q4 2023, lowest since 2008
17
Sweden's unemployment rate was 7.5% in December 2023
18
In the US, the Hispanic or Latino unemployment rate was 5.0% in October 2023
19
Netherlands unemployment rate was 3.6% in Q3 2023
20
South Africa's unemployment rate reached 32.1% in Q4 2023
Interpretation
Unemployment Rates Interpretation
The world's job market is a patchwork quilt of extremes, where a graduate in the U.S. can barely find time to look for work while a young person in South Africa faces nearly impossible odds, yet hidden beneath every seemingly tidy national figure lies a story of inequality, resilience, or economic uncertainty.
05 · Category
Wage Statistics19 stats
01
Global median weekly earnings for full-time workers were $1,200in 2023
02
US median annual wage for software developers was $127,260in 2023
03
In the EU, average hourly labor costs were €31.2 in 2022
04
India's average monthly salary in IT sector was ₹45,000 in 2023
05
Japan’s average annual salary increased to ¥4.6 million in 2023
06
Australia's average full-time weekly earnings reached AUD 1,888 in August 2023
07
Germany’s median gross monthly earnings were €3,984 in 2022
08
Brazil's minimum wage was BRL 1,412 per month in 2024
09
Canada’s average hourly wage was CAD 34.98 in 2023
10
UK average weekly earnings grew 7.6% in the year to October 2023
11
France’s SMIC minimum wage rose to €1,766.92 gross monthly in 2024
12
China's average urban wage was CNY 108,842 annually in 2022
13
South Korea’s average monthly wage was KRW 3,890,000 in 2023
14
Italy’s average net monthly salary was €1,500 in 2023
15
Mexico’s average daily wage was MXN 226 in Q3 2023
16
Spain’s average annual salary was €27,289 in 2022
17
Sweden’s average monthly salary was SEK 37,100 in 2023
18
US construction workers' median hourly wage was $25.93in 2023
19
Global tech sector average salary was $85,000in 2023
Interpretation
Wage Statistics Interpretation
While the global median worker earns a modest $1,200 a week, the stark international patchwork of wages reveals a world where your pay is less a measure of your skill and more a geographic lottery, heavily weighted by whether your code is written in Silicon Valley or São Paulo.
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
Marcus Afolabi. (2026, February 13). Job Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/job-industry-statistics
MLA
Marcus Afolabi. "Job Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/job-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Marcus Afolabi. 2026. "Job Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/job-industry-statistics.
Sources & references
42 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level