# Laura Ullrich and Sneha Puri argue in Indeed Hiring Lab that job seekers face a slower market [Canonical reading](https://escapemeridian.com/readings/laura-ullrich-and-sneha-puri-argue-in-indeed-hiring-lab-that-1b922fb2) Published February 19, 2026, Laura Ullrich and Sneha Puri’s Indeed Hiring Lab update describes a familiar January surge in job searches meeting restrained hiring demand. Indeed searches were up to 31% higher in January than the early-December average, while postings stayed roughly level with late 2025. The authors say this gap reflects a low-hire, low-fire labor market: workers are looking, but openings are limited and hiring takes longer. Seasonal sectors such as retail, driving, and logistic support saw posting declines; some white-collar sectors had modest gains exceeding 5%, which the authors call pockets of opportunity for professional job seekers. They report that openings per unemployed person reached 0.9 in December 2025 and argue that leverage has shifted toward employers, who can be more selective. The update concludes that finding a new position in 2026 may require more patience and persistence, while whether the year brings renewed employment expansion or continued stagnation remains uncertain. Headline and summary by Escape Meridian, prepared by Luna from the attributed source. A source check is not independent confirmation of the source’s claims. ## Original source Indeed Hiring Lab · Article Original source date: Feb 19, 2026 (2026-02-19). Date basis: Date from the publisher’s archive: its article address or archive listing. Added to Escape Meridian: 2026-11-08T07:48:23.437Z. First observed: 2026-10-30T19:40:33.770Z. Retrieved: 2026-10-30T21:02:02.400Z. - [February 2026 US Labor Market Update: New Year, Same Resolutions](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2026/02/19/february-2026-labor-market-update-new-year-same-resolutions/) ## Limits Text as retrieved on October 30, 2026; originally published February 19, 2026. The update uses Indeed search and posting data alongside other labor-market data; its methodology notes that several dates in 2021 and 2022 were missing and interpolated. ## Open question Will the authors’ described pattern of restrained hiring and longer hiring timelines give way to renewed employment expansion or continued stagnation in 2026? ## Source-stated Ullrich and Puri report that Indeed job searches rose in January compared with early December. > Job searches on Indeed were up to 31% higher in January 2026, compared to the early-December 2025 average. - [Supporting source](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2026/02/19/february-2026-labor-market-update-new-year-same-resolutions/) ## Source-stated They report that postings remained roughly unchanged from late 2025 during January. > Job postings in January remained roughly the same as in late 2025. - [Supporting source](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2026/02/19/february-2026-labor-market-update-new-year-same-resolutions/) ## Source-stated They say some white-collar sectors recorded modest posting gains exceeding 5% relative to early December. > a broad range of sectors saw increases in job postings that exceeded 5%. - [Supporting source](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2026/02/19/february-2026-labor-market-update-new-year-same-resolutions/) ## Source-stated They report openings per unemployed person reached 0.9 in December 2025. > reaching a post-pandemic low — the lowest level since mid-2017 outside of the pandemic — of 0.9 in December 2025. - [Supporting source](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2026/02/19/february-2026-labor-market-update-new-year-same-resolutions/) ## Source-stated They conclude that job seekers may need greater patience and persistence to find a new position in 2026. > finding a new position may require more patience and persistence than in the recent past. - [Supporting source](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2026/02/19/february-2026-labor-market-update-new-year-same-resolutions/) ## Source and contributor context Indeed Hiring Lab · Publisher The publisher is identified here. No individual author has been inferred. ## Source media Media retrieval status: unchecked. ## Terms and references Reference context selected by Escape Meridian; separate from source evidence. Entity mentions do not establish authorship, involvement or endorsement. ## Indeed Hiring Lab Indeed Hiring Lab is the economic research arm of the job site Indeed, publishing analyses of job postings, wages and hiring trends. - [Explore this context](/entities/indeed-hiring-lab) - [Reference](https://www.hiringlab.org/) - [Reference](https://www.hiringlab.org/feed/) ## Editorial provenance Version 1. Publication ID: f5f128fb-4c1a-62f9-aa4b-592533affad3. Prepared by openai/gpt-6-luna; grounding review by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5. Source check: passed by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 on 2026-11-08T07:43:38.802Z. This checks fidelity to the source, not whether its claims are independently true. Editorial selection: accept; reasons: bridge\_admitted\_by\_model. Observation: e5fddb304e4ac98747cfb496543aabbb052c3860253808e0037e97a60b46cd98. Source text hash: 69a6485928be1e8782eea2f359cd59e8f8e02c1683d0515d262654f759cb55dc. ## Revision and source-check history ### Version 1 — 2026-11-08T07:48:23.437Z Published February 19, 2026, Laura Ullrich and Sneha Puri’s Indeed Hiring Lab update describes a familiar January surge in job searches meeting restrained hiring demand. Indeed searches were up to 31% higher in January than the early-December average, while postings stayed roughly level with late 2025. The authors say this gap reflects a low-hire, low-fire labor market: workers are looking, but openings are limited and hiring takes longer. Seasonal sectors such as retail, driving, and logistic support saw posting declines; some white-collar sectors had modest gains exceeding 5%, which the authors call pockets of opportunity for professional job seekers. They report that openings per unemployed person reached 0.9 in December 2025 and argue that leverage has shifted toward employers, who can be more selective. The update concludes that finding a new position in 2026 may require more patience and persistence, while whether the year brings renewed employment expansion or continued stagnation remains uncertain. ## Original source Indeed Hiring Lab · Article Original source date: Feb 19, 2026 (2026-02-19). Date basis: Date from the publisher’s archive: its article address or archive listing. Added to Escape Meridian: 2026-11-08T07:48:23.437Z. First observed: 2026-10-30T19:40:33.770Z. Retrieved: 2026-10-30T21:02:02.400Z. - [February 2026 US Labor Market Update: New Year, Same Resolutions](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2026/02/19/february-2026-labor-market-update-new-year-same-resolutions/) ## Limits Text as retrieved on October 30, 2026; originally published February 19, 2026. The update uses Indeed search and posting data alongside other labor-market data; its methodology notes that several dates in 2021 and 2022 were missing and interpolated. ## Open question Will the authors’ described pattern of restrained hiring and longer hiring timelines give way to renewed employment expansion or continued stagnation in 2026? ## Source-stated Ullrich and Puri report that Indeed job searches rose in January compared with early December. > Job searches on Indeed were up to 31% higher in January 2026, compared to the early-December 2025 average. - [Supporting source](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2026/02/19/february-2026-labor-market-update-new-year-same-resolutions/) ## Source-stated They report that postings remained roughly unchanged from late 2025 during January. > Job postings in January remained roughly the same as in late 2025. - [Supporting source](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2026/02/19/february-2026-labor-market-update-new-year-same-resolutions/) ## Source-stated They say some white-collar sectors recorded modest posting gains exceeding 5% relative to early December. > a broad range of sectors saw increases in job postings that exceeded 5%. - [Supporting source](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2026/02/19/february-2026-labor-market-update-new-year-same-resolutions/) ## Source-stated They report openings per unemployed person reached 0.9 in December 2025. > reaching a post-pandemic low — the lowest level since mid-2017 outside of the pandemic — of 0.9 in December 2025. - [Supporting source](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2026/02/19/february-2026-labor-market-update-new-year-same-resolutions/) ## Source-stated They conclude that job seekers may need greater patience and persistence to find a new position in 2026. > finding a new position may require more patience and persistence than in the recent past. - [Supporting source](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2026/02/19/february-2026-labor-market-update-new-year-same-resolutions/) ## Source and contributor context Indeed Hiring Lab · Publisher The publisher is identified here. No individual author has been inferred. ## Source media Media retrieval status: unchecked. ## Terms and references Reference context selected by Escape Meridian; separate from source evidence. Entity mentions do not establish authorship, involvement or endorsement. ## Indeed Hiring Lab Indeed Hiring Lab is the economic research arm of the job site Indeed, publishing analyses of job postings, wages and hiring trends. - [Explore this context](/entities/indeed-hiring-lab) - [Reference](https://www.hiringlab.org/) - [Reference](https://www.hiringlab.org/feed/) ## Editorial provenance Version 1. Publication ID: f5f128fb-4c1a-62f9-aa4b-592533affad3. Prepared by openai/gpt-6-luna; grounding review by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5. Source check: passed by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 on 2026-11-08T07:43:38.802Z. This checks fidelity to the source, not whether its claims are independently true. Editorial selection: accept; reasons: bridge\_admitted\_by\_model. Observation: e5fddb304e4ac98747cfb496543aabbb052c3860253808e0037e97a60b46cd98. Source text hash: 69a6485928be1e8782eea2f359cd59e8f8e02c1683d0515d262654f759cb55dc. ### passed — 2026-11-08T07:43:38.802Z — anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 Publication: f5f128fb-4c1a-62f9-aa4b-592533affad3 attribution — pass: The reading correctly attributes the update to Laura Ullrich and Sneha Puri at Indeed Hiring Lab. It keeps findings and conclusions as their reported data and arguments. The page is a single analytical article, not a listing; the carousel of related titles is peripheral. > By Laura Ullrich & Sneha Puri summary — pass: The summary faithfully conveys the January search surge, flat postings, the sector split, the 0.9 openings-per-unemployed ratio, the shift in leverage toward employers and the closing patience message. It glosses low-hire, low-fire in plain words. The question reflects the source's own stated open issue rather than a leading claim. > Whether 2026 evolves into a year of renewed employment expansion or continued stagnation will depend on the numerous macro trends impacting the market. date — pass: February 19, 2026 matches the byline and originalPublished at day precision. The reading uses no later events or hindsight. The related-stories carousel lists earlier pieces and is not used. The forecast about 2026 is presented as the authors' uncertain outlook. A dateModified of February 20, 2026 exists, but nothing here appears to depend on a later edit. > February 19, 2026 support — pass: Each claim matches the source text: up to 31% higher searches, flat postings, white-collar gains exceeding 5%, a 0.9 ratio in December 2025, and greater patience needed. The source supports the statements that hiring takes longer and that employers are more selective. The reading adds no unsupported benefits or costs. > employers can be more selective in when — and who — they hire. media — pass: No media was selected, and there are no verified media candidates. Leaving the media field null is appropriate. ## Recorded references Explicit citations in public readings and public file attachments to this reading. Shared topics are not citations. Other artifact types need an explicit reference adapter. No public references recorded here yet. [Reference data (JSON)](/readings/1b922fb264e4115e1b913ce988261a67a80a8bef453fe58e41e394a0a25058b8/references.json) ## Corrections and challenges [Send a correction or an opposing source](https://escapemeridian.com/corrections/) [JSON record](https://escapemeridian.com/readings/laura-ullrich-and-sneha-puri-argue-in-indeed-hiring-lab-that-1b922fb2.json)