Jobs Hiring Now in the USA: Where the Openings Are in 2026

The U.S. job market in late 2026 is slow, not shut. Employers added just 29,000 jobs in September and the unemployment rate held at 4.2 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Yet the latest count of unfilled positions, for August, still came to 7.1 million.

Those openings are not spread evenly. Most sit in a handful of industries, and a few occupations will keep adding workers for the next decade whatever the monthly headlines say. This guide uses official BLS data to show where the jobs are, what they pay, what it takes to get hired and where to search. Sources are listed at the end.

The job market in numbers (October 2026)

• Job openings: 7.1 million in August 2026, an openings rate of 4.3 percent.
• Hires: 5.2 million in August, little changed over the month and the year.
• Unemployed people: 7.1 million in September 2026.
• Long-term unemployed (27 weeks or more): 1.9 million, or 27.1 percent of everyone out of work.
• Average hourly earnings on private payrolls: $37.81 in September, up 5 cents from August.

Put those side by side and openings roughly match the number of people looking, about 7.1 million each. (The openings figure is for August, the unemployment count for September.) That is a fair market, not a hot one. Competition for each posting is real, and more than a quarter of unemployed people have been searching for over six months.

Industries with the most job openings

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) counts unfilled positions by industry. These are the August 2026 figures, which are preliminary.

Health care leads by a wide margin, and it is still adding workers. In September, health care payrolls grew by 17,000, with gains in ambulatory care (+13,000) and hospitals (+12,000), while nursing and residential care facilities lost 9,000. Construction added 11,000 jobs and manufacturing 9,000. Manufacturing is now up 72,000 from its recent low in December 2025.

Two shifts stand out from a year ago. Retail openings rose to 761,000 from 609,000. Restaurant and hotel openings fell to 713,000 from 942,000.

Finance is the cautionary tale. Financial activities lost 7,000 jobs in September and is down 129,000 since its May 2025 peak. There are still 403,000 openings there, but it is a weak place to bet a career change right now.

Fastest-growing jobs through 2035

The BLS released its 2025-2035 employment projections on August 27, 2026. Overall growth is slow: total employment is projected to rise by 5.9 million jobs, or 3.5 percent, over the decade. The previous ten years saw 10.9 percent.

Health care is the exception. Private health care and social assistance is projected to add more than 2.2 million jobs, about 37 percent of all new jobs. Healthcare support occupations, such as aides and assistants, are projected to grow 13.3 percent, the fastest of any occupational group. Among individual occupations, nurse practitioners top the list at +41 percent.

At the other end, office and administrative support jobs are projected to shrink 4.0 percent, a loss of 752,100 positions. For anyone planning a career change, that trend matters more than any single month of hiring data.

Other fast growers, 2025-35

• Solar photovoltaic installers: +37 percent, median pay $53,140 a year
• Data scientists: +35 percent, $120,230
• Wind turbine service technicians: +30 percent, $64,120
• Physical therapist assistants: +23 percent, $68,380
• Information security analysts: +21 percent, $129,180

Entry-level jobs hiring now: pay and requirements

Fast percentage growth is not the same as lots of jobs. The table lists occupations the BLS expects to add the most positions. Pay is the national median hourly wage from the May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey. Entry requirements come from the Occupational Outlook Handbook.

Median means half of workers earn more and half earn less. Pay varies by state, employer and experience, sometimes by a lot. Nationally, the lowest-paid 10 percent of registered nurses earn $33.14 an hour or less, while the top 10 percent earn $66.09 or more. For home health aides, the same range runs from $13.00 to $21.65.

Registered nurse salary by state

Higher-paying states also tend to cost more to live in, so compare offers against local rent, not just the national figure.

Jobs hiring now with no degree

Several of the biggest-growing occupations do not require a four-year degree. The trade-off is usually training time, physical work or a license.

• Home health and personal care aides: the largest projected gain of any occupation and a high school diploma is typical. The median is $17.21 an hour, so treat it as a quick way in, not a high-paying one.
• Electricians: median $30.38 an hour. Most learn through a 4- or 5-year apprenticeship, and most states require a license.
• Truck drivers (heavy and tractor-trailer): median $28.19. You need truck driving school and a commercial driver's license. BLS projects about 214,500 openings a year, many from drivers who retire or change jobs.
• Medical assistants: median $21.97, usually after a postsecondary certificate program, with about 109,700 openings a year.
• Construction laborers: median $22.66, no formal credential usually required, and about 137,000 openings a year for laborers and helpers combined. It is also one of the more injury-prone jobs, the BLS notes.

If you only do one thing this week, look up Registered Apprenticeships. Apprenticeship.gov describes them as jobs that pay a wage from day one, with raises as your skills grow and a nationally recognized credential at the end. Its Apprenticeship Job Finder lists openings by location.

Free job training programs (WIOA) and employer-paid training

Before you pay for a certificate program, check what is available for free.

WIOA training through American Job Centers

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) funds job search help and training through about 2,300 American Job Centers nationwide. Services vary by state, and some have eligibility rules. For WIOA Adult training funds, priority goes to people on public assistance, other low-income individuals and people who lack basic skills. Veterans get priority across Department of Labor employment programs. You can find a center through CareerOneStop or by calling 1-877-US-2JOBS.

Tuition assistance and benefits

Some employers pay for courses. Under IRS rules, an employer's educational assistance program can cover up to $5,250 a year tax-free for tuition, fees, books, supplies and equipment, and the courses do not have to be job-related. Ask about it when you get an offer.

Ask about health insurance and retirement too, because access is uneven. In March 2026, 89 percent of full-time civilian workers had access to employer medical care benefits, against 23 percent of part-time workers. A full-time job at a slightly lower hourly rate can be worth more once benefits are counted.

Where to look for jobs

• USAJOBS.gov: the federal government's job site. You sign in with a Login.gov account, build a profile and can store several resumes. The FTC notes that information about federal and Postal Service jobs is free, so anyone charging for it is a red flag.
• CareerOneStop.org: sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor. It has a job search tool, links to state job banks and an American Job Center finder.
• State job banks: each state runs one, and CareerOneStop links to all of them.
• Employer career pages: the safest place to apply. If you find a job on a big board, confirm it on the company's own site.
• Large job boards: good for volume and alerts. Set alerts by job title and ZIP code.

Resume and background check basics

Use the exact job title and the skills named in the posting on your resume, as long as they are true. A short resume aimed at one role beats a long one aimed at everything.

Many offers depend on a background check. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, employers must get your written permission before running one through a background reporting company. If they plan to reject you because of the report, they must first give you a copy and a summary of your rights. You can dispute errors with the company that produced the report.

Job scam warning signs

• You are asked to pay for training, a starter kit, a certification or a list of jobs. The FTC's rule of thumb: don't pay for the promise of a job.
• You get a check and are told to send part of the money back. Never rely on a check that seems to have cleared.
• An unexpected text or WhatsApp message offers work with few details. The FTC says real employers will never contact you that way.
• The job is receiving packages at home and reshipping them.

Report scams at ReportFraud.ftc.gov or to your state attorney general.

A note on the numbers: BLS revises monthly figures, and the August JOLTS data are preliminary. Check bls.gov for the newest releases. This is an independent careers guide, not a government website, and it is not connected with any employer or agency named here.

Sources

• BLS, The Employment Situation - September 2026 (bls.gov), accessed 2026-10-14
• BLS, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary - August 2026 (bls.gov), accessed 2026-10-14
• BLS, JOLTS Table 1: Job openings levels and rates by industry (bls.gov), accessed 2026-10-14
• BLS, Employment Projections 2025-2035 news release (bls.gov), accessed 2026-10-14
• BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, Most New Jobs (bls.gov), accessed 2026-10-14
• BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, Fastest Growing Occupations (bls.gov), accessed 2026-10-14
• BLS OOH, Home Health and Personal Care Aides (bls.gov), accessed 2026-10-14
• BLS OOH, Registered Nurses (bls.gov), accessed 2026-10-14
• BLS OOH, Medical Assistants (bls.gov), accessed 2026-10-14
• BLS OOH, Hand Laborers and Material Movers (incl. stockers and order fillers) (bls.gov), accessed 2026-10-14
• BLS OOH, Food and Beverage Serving and Related Workers (bls.gov), accessed 2026-10-14
• BLS OOH, Software Developers, QA Analysts, and Testers (bls.gov), accessed 2026-10-14
• BLS OOH, Electricians (bls.gov), accessed 2026-10-14
• BLS OOH, Heavy and Tractor-trailer Truck Drivers (bls.gov), accessed 2026-10-14
• BLS OOH, Construction Laborers and Helpers (bls.gov), accessed 2026-10-14
• BLS OOH, Accountants and Auditors (bls.gov), accessed 2026-10-14
• BLS OEWS May 2025 national and state wage estimates (via BLS Public Data API, series OEUN/OEUS...08, 06, 10) (api.bls.gov), accessed 2026-10-14
• BLS, Employee Benefits in the United States - March 2026 (bls.gov), accessed 2026-10-14
• U.S. Department of Labor, American Job Centers (dol.gov), accessed 2026-10-14
• U.S. Department of Labor, WIOA Adult and Dislocated Worker Programs (dol.gov), accessed 2026-10-14
• Apprenticeship.gov, Career Seekers (apprenticeship.gov), accessed 2026-10-14
• IRS, Frequently asked questions about educational assistance programs (irs.gov), accessed 2026-10-14
• USAJOBS Help, getting started (Login.gov sign-in, profile, resumes) (help.usajobs.gov), accessed 2026-10-14
• FTC, Job Scams (consumer.ftc.gov), accessed 2026-10-14
• FTC, Employer Background Checks and Your Rights (consumer.ftc.gov), accessed 2026-10-14
• FTC Data Spotlight, Paying to get paid: gamified job scams drive record losses (ftc.gov), accessed 2026-10-14