Actalent Labor Market and Economy Report: A Look at Trends in Ocotber 2025

Executive Summary

Navigating Labor Market Trends in the Absence of Federal Data

At the time this report was prepared, the U.S. federal government was in a shutdown, with only essential operations continuing in unfunded departments and agencies. Consequently, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) had paused updates to its website and suspended data releases.

Although government operations have since resumed, the data typically referenced in this report was not available at the time of publication. Thus, this month’s report focuses solely on industry trends.

The following metrics have not been updated by the BLS and are therefore not included in this report: employment levels, labor force participation rate, unemployment rate, layoffs, quits, average hourly earnings, consumer price index and real average hourly earnings. Job postings data is included, as it is sourced from Lightcast, which is not a government entity.

October Labor Market

Although October employment figures were not available at the time of this report’s publication, it is likely that the labor market continued to be characterized by slower hiring activity driven by ongoing economic and political uncertainty, yet persistent competition for qualified STEM talent.

According to Lightcast, U.S. job postings from non-staffing employers have increased over the last three months (August to October) for two of the occupation categories Actalent supports: computer and mathematical occupations (+6%) and architecture and engineering occupations (+11%). Job postings for life, physical and social sciences occupations remained flat.