Americans fear AI job losses. Hiring data disagrees.

Curated by David Michaelson

AI Engineer hiring is up 64% in the US, and the entry-level jobs hit hardest are the ones AI touches least, LinkedIn's hiring data shows. Americans expect the opposite: in a new Axios-CivicScience index, sentiment that AI will create jobs scored -30.4. Plus: an AI scribe gave Leeds ER clinicians 13 minutes back per consultation.

IN THIS ISSUE

// THE SCOREBOARD

Fear Versus the Hiring Data

AXIOS-CIVICSCIENCE . OCTOBER 2026

The new Axios-CivicScience AI Sentiment Index polled more than 7,300 U.S. adults online from Oct. 1 to 26 across six measures. Only economic growth scored positive, at +10 (positive answers minus negative). Sentiment that AI will create more jobs came in at -30.4.

That is what people expect. The next two entries are what the hiring data counts.

Americans scored AI -30.4 on creating more jobs, even as they scored it +10 on growing the economy.

LINKEDIN ECONOMIC GRAPH . APRIL TO JUNE 2026

LinkedIn's Economic Graph team measured hiring rates across its members in the US, UK, France, Germany and India for its August AI Labor Market Update. In the US, entry-level hiring fell 7.6% year on year against 6.9% overall, which LinkedIn puts down to economic uncertainty more than AI. The US entry-level group hit hardest was roles least exposed to AI, down 13.5%.

Two of the fastest-growing US roles were AI Engineer, up 64%, and Founder, up 54%. The cost shows in junior hiring for roles AI assists, like software engineering: down 9.6% against 6.5% for those roles overall. LinkedIn is owned by Microsoft, which sells AI tools.

In LinkedIn's US data, entry-level hiring fell hardest in the jobs least exposed to AI, down 13.5%, while AI Engineer hiring rose 64%.

YALE BUDGET LAB . OCTOBER 2026

The Budget Lab at Yale tracks the US labor market for signs of AI. Its Oct. 14 update finds the mix of occupations is not yet changing in ways that clearly line up with AI's arrival, and that measures of AI usage show no connection to changes in employment or unemployment. A comparison of more and less AI-exposed workers does not yet show a clear AI footprint either. The Lab plans to keep updating it.

Yale's Budget Lab finds measures of AI usage show no connection to changes in US employment or unemployment.

// EVERYDAY UPGRADES

13 Minutes Back in the ER

LEEDS TEACHING HOSPITALS . EMERGENCY CARE

Clinicians in the ambulatory area of Leeds General Infirmary's emergency department spent three months, February to April, testing a tool from UK company TORTUS that listens to consultations and drafts the clinical notes. A clinician reviews and approves each draft before it enters the record.

An evaluation of the pilot found documentation time fell 61%, an average of 13 minutes per consultation, with no serious safety incidents. Clinicians said they could focus on patients instead of screens. These are pilot figures from one area of one department; the trust is rolling it out across the department this autumn.

If your hospital uses an AI scribe, ask whether a clinician reviews each note before it's filed.

// ONE HONEST LINE

In an August Axios-Generation Lab survey of young adults, more than a quarter said they'd lost a job to AI or knew someone who had.

// PASS IT ON

Forward this issue to one person who thinks AI is only a threat.

positivelyAI is curated by David Michaelson at EmbedIQ LLC. David builds with AI for a living, so we have a stake in how it goes. That is why the bar here is proof: every story links the source behind its number, and a company announcing its own product is never the story. Spot a number we got wrong? Reply, and the correction runs at the top of the next issue.

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