U.S. displaced worker reemployment rate holds at 66.1%, health care leads across industries

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Displaced worker reemployment rates

Highlights

The U.S. reemployment rate for long-tenured displaced workers holds at 66.1% in January 2026, based on 3.3 million displaced individuals.
Health care and social assistance leads with a 77.1% reemployment rate, while government, transportation and utilities, educational services, and leisure and hospitality remain below 60.0%.
Compared to January 2024, January 2026 reemployment rates are largely stable, except leisure and hospitality and government decline, and information sector improves.

Industry reemployment patterns in January 2026

As reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 3.3 million workers are displaced from jobs they had held for at least three years between January 2023 and December 2025, and 66.1% of those long-tenured workers are reemployed in January 2026.

Among major industries, health care and social assistance posts the strongest reemployment rate at 77.1%. Information follows at 76.8%, while wholesale and retail trade reaches 72.2% and construction stands at 71.3%.

Reemployment rates remain below 60.0% for long-tenured workers previously employed in government, transportation and utilities, educational services, and leisure and hospitality. The data indicate that recovery in the labor market varies notably by industry for workers leaving long-held positions.

Comparison with prior survey period

For most major industries, reemployment rates in January 2026 are similar to those reported in January 2024. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says rates decline from the prior period for leisure and hospitality and for government, while the rate for workers displaced from information jobs increases.

The figures come from the Current Population Survey, which defines long-tenured displaced workers as wage and salary workers age 20 and over with at least three years of tenure on a job they lose or leave because a plant or company closes or moves, work becomes insufficient, or a position or shift is abolished. The agency notes that displaced workers are not necessarily reemployed in the same industries they leave, and people not in the labor force are those who are neither employed nor actively seeking work or on temporary layoff in the previous four weeks.

Our earlier article on early-career job-hopping explained that economic research often views frequent job changes as a key pathway to higher wages and better long-run job matches, despite lingering cultural stigma. It highlighted findings that switching jobs in the first years of a career can account for a sizable share of wage growth and help workers move toward more stable employment over time.

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