July 30, 2025
The Upjohn Institute New Hires Quality Index leveled off at $22.13 between May and June. Hiring volume was also steady, but population-adjusted hiring rates are down 9.9 percent from their pre-COVID level.
In this month's news release, index creator Brad Hershbein compares the hiring situations in two fast-growing regions of the country, the West and the South.
The NHQI wage index for newly hired workers grew 3.2 percent in the West between October 2024 and June 2025, to a new high, while falling 0.5 percent in the South. Hiring rates have fallen in both regions since June, although the 3.4 percent decline in the South was twice the 1.7 percent drop in the West.
Over the last 25 years, both the South and West have increased their share of the total earnings power of all newly hired workers — at the expense of the Northeast and Midwest. In the last year, though, the South’s share has dropped 0.6 percentage points while the West's increased 0.9 percentage points.
Read the full analysis or explore the index.