09/04/2026
The U.S. labor market is entering September with a mixed but important signal: headline job growth has slowed, yet employers are still planning to hire—and finding the right talent remains a challenge.
Welcome to the Abacus Workforce Brief—our monthly snapshot of the hiring trends, workforce shifts, and market signals shaping business decisions.
Here’s what we're watching this month:
📊 7.359 million U.S. job openings remain.
📈 Net 20% of small businesses plan to hire—the strongest outlook since October 2022.
🎯 36% have unfilled roles, while 27% cite talent availability as a key challenge.
💼 1.085 million openings in Professional & Business Services.
🏥 Health Care & Social Assistance openings rose by 69,000.
🌐 Online labor demand reached 113.0, up 4.4% year over year.
The message for business leaders is becoming increasingly clear: the labor market may be cooling, but the competition for the right talent has not disappeared.
As we move into September, workforce strategy will be less about simply adding headcount—and more about finding the right skills, improving workforce agility, and building the capacity to respond quickly when demand changes.
What's one workforce trend your organization is watching most closely as we head into Q4?