A January 2026 IMF staff discussion note tracking the spread of AI-related job skills across US local labor markets found that in occupations highly exposed to AI but with little scope to complement it, five years after AI-skill demand appeared, employment was 3.6% lower than in other regions
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) published a staff discussion note in January 2026, analyzing the impact of AI-related job skills on US local labor markets. The analysis found that in occupations highly exposed to AI but with little scope to complement it, employment was 3.6% lower in regions with greater demand for AI-related skills compared to other regions, five years after these skills appeared. This finding is based on an empirical analysis of US local labor markets.
Verified 2026-09-13
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Where AI can do a job but not help with it, employment has fallen, a measured sign of displacement.
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- AI hiring intensity doesn't track the size of a country's AI industry. Stanford's 2026 AI Index, drawing on Lightcast's job-postings database across dozens of countries, found the 2025 leader for AI-skill job-posting share by a wide margin was Singapore, at 4.69% of all job postings — nearly double the 2.6% share in the United States
- Stanford's 2026 AI Index, citing Lightcast's job-postings database, found that even as employer demand shifted toward newer agentic-AI skills, mentions of generative AI skills specifically in US AI job postings still grew, from 2024 to 2025, by 111%
- The information sector — telecom, media, tech services — led US corporate AI hiring in 2025. Lightcast data cited in Stanford's 2026 AI Index found AI skills required in 13.2% of the sector's job postings, up from 7.8% in 2024
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