Introducing The Next LinkedIn Workforce Spotlight: New Hampshire

Welcome to the second edition of the LinkedIn Workforce Spotlight! As we noted last time, more than 400 million professionals use LinkedIn to advance their careers, and more than 40,000 companies use LinkedIn to recruit. That gives us unique insight into labor markets.

In January's Spotlight, we looked at the state of Iowa, home of the Iowa Caucuses -- the first opportunity for Americans to vote for each major party’s standard-bearer in the November election. With the Caucuses in the rear view mirror, the election calendar now moves onto New Hampshire, which holds its presidential primary on February 9. Spotlight is following the voters to the Granite State, looking at its economy through the lens of LinkedIn data.

New Hampshire is an interesting labor market because it simultaneously exhibits very low unemployment (among the lowest in the nation), fairly rapid pay growth, and relatively modest job growth. This combination of indicators suggests a shortage of available workers, perhaps fueled by the fact that it has a relatively high median age (42.5 years, about 5 years above the nation as a whole).

This framework also provides the impetus for our topics this month. First, we look at one of the few industries that has exhibited fairly rapid job growth within New Hampshire over the past year: transportation and trucking. Second, we look at retention of college graduates in-state; ironically, despite a possible worker shortage, New Hampshire ranks relatively low in such retention. Finally, we close the February Spotlight by examining skills that have been hard-hit by New Hampshire’s high median age -- those oriented toward teaching or caring for children.

I hope you enjoy this month's Spotlight!