Developer postings and tech payrolls pull further apart

Indeed's index of US software development postings, where 100 is the February 2020 level, rose to 79.4 in October, its highest since August 2023. Information sector jobs went the other way, down 1,000 to 2,734,000, the lowest since October 2014 once you set aside March to December 2020. That widens the gap on postings against payrolls to 22.7 points, from 19.2 points a month earlier. It is the number I watch most, because it sets what employers advertise against who they actually employ.

The wider labour market moved the other way. All US jobs rose by 165,000 to 159.3 million, the highest in data going back to January 2000, and the quits rate, the share of workers leaving a job by choice, climbed to 2.1% in September, its highest since June 2025 though still under the 2.3% seen before the pandemic. Layoffs and discharges eased to 1.0%, below the 2019 average of 1.2%, so the weakness still sits in hiring more than in firing. The next update is on 4 December 2026.