According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data published Wednesday, job openings in July fell to the lowest level in 10 months — 7.18 million from 7.36 million in June. Now, a new report by career website ResumeUp.AI suggests a whole bunch of those openings might not even be real.
The analysis found that 27.4% of all U.S. job listings on LinkedIn are likely ghost jobs with no intentions to hire. According to the Congressional Research Service report on ghost jobs, the term is defined as “online job postings for positions that do not exist, or that employers are not planning to fill immediately.”
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Although ghost jobs are not a new phenomenon — there’s documentation of “ghost jobs” on the Internet as far back as 2003, the uptick in recent years has been a source of stress for job seekers. And it isn’t just LinkedIn. Earlier this year, hiring platform Greenhouse reported that 18% to 22% of the jobs on its site were ghost jobs, too.
At 27.4%, the report found the U.S. had the most ghost jobs of all other countries, compared to Canada (24.9%), the U.K. (14.2%), and Australia (10.9%).
Why Do Companies Post Ghost Jobs?
The Congressional Research Service report on ghost jobs says employers do this for several reasons: as a signal of growth to attract potential investors; to make current employees feel replaceable; to pretend they are open to external applications but really have an internal candidate in mind; or simply casting a wider net to find extraordinary talent.
According to the Society of Human Resource Management, the average time to fill open roles was 41 days in 2024.
The U.S. Cities with the Highest Percentages of Ghost Jobs
ResumeUp.AI analyzed job postings on LinkedIn from the last 30, 60, 90, 120, and 233 days — since the beginning of 2025. Jobs posted more than 30 days ago were considered likely “ghost jobs” based on typical hiring timelines. Analysts divided the number of jobs posted more than 30 days ago by the total number of jobs posted this year.
Los Angeles topped the list with 30.5%, suggesting nearly one in every three job postings is fake.
Philadelphia was No. 2 with 30.1%, and Indianapolis ranked third with 27.8%.
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Although New York had the highest number (volume) of ghost jobs (23,000), it only led the Big Apple to come in at No. 4, with 26.7%.
Finally, San Francisco rounded out the top 5 with 26.0%.
The U.S. Cities with the Lowest Percentage of Ghost Jobs
Seattle had the lowest percentage of ghost jobs, at 16.6%.
Boston, meanwhile, had the second-lowest percentage of ghost jobs with 18.7%, and Dallas came in with the third-lowest at 20.1%.
The report found that Chicago (21.6%) was the No. 4 lowest, and Atlanta was fifth with 21.9%.
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