Ethics is the fastest-growing skill appearing in US job openings
Leadership and decision-making are the fastest-growing skills in US job openings.. This aligns with what the recruitment industry has been highlighting: strong demand for skilled, strategic leaders, especially in an uncertain economic environment. When combined with adaptability, the third fastest-growing skill, these trends underscore how employers increasingly need people who can navigate change and act with confidence.
Job market remains challenging for recent college graduates
After job openings rose in October, November saw a decline across the board–but the drop wasn’t evenly distributed. Job openings for candidates with a bachelor’s degree and less than a year of experience were down 12%, compared to last month, and 16% year over year. Meanwhile, jobs that require a bachelor’s degree and 2+ years of experience are only down 3-4%, compared to 2024. It’s also notable that, although skilled trade jobs that require a vocational degree are down more than 25% since 2024, they are only down 7% this month, the smallest decline for any education level. This may signal resilience in those hands-on jobs that are less likely to be impacted by AI.
Methodology
Market IQ collects job postings daily from over 7 million+ websites in the U.S. Our system automatically identifies, extracts, and structures job data into 100+ attributes using Textkernel’s AI powered parsing technology. Each posting is normalized against professional taxonomies, enriched with company information, and deduplicated using sophisticated algorithms to identify unique job opportunities. The system maintains high levels of accuracy through automated quality controls and continuous improvement processes, making it a trusted source for U.S. labor market insights.
Skills
Market IQ utilizes Textkernel’s proprietary Skills Normalization Taxonomy (SNT) to extract and normalize skills from job postings. Our taxonomy encompasses 13,200+ unique skill concepts mapped through 250,000+ terms, covering professional skills, IT skills, soft skills, and languages. Using advanced machine learning, the system identifies skills in context, disambiguates ambiguous terms, and normalizes them to standardized concepts—enabling accurate cross-market analysis regardless of how employers phrase skill requirements. The taxonomy is continuously updated quarterly based on millions of job postings, market feedback, and labor market trends. This data-driven approach ensures Market IQ captures both established and emerging skills as they appear in the U.S. job market, providing unparalleled insights into skill demand across industries and regions. All analysis of skills excludes any skills that appear in fewer than 10,000 job descriptions.
