US Jobs Report April 2025

THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION -- APRIL 2025 

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 177,000 in April, and the unemployment rate was

unchanged at 4.2 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment

continued to trend up in health care, transportation and warehousing, financial activities,

and social assistance. Federal government employment declined.

 

This news release presents statistics from two monthly surveys. The household survey measures

labor force status, including unemployment, by demographic characteristics. The establishment

survey measures nonfarm employment, hours, and earnings by industry. For more information

about the concepts and statistical methodology used in these two surveys, see the Technical

Note.

 

Household Survey Data

The unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.2 percent in April and has remained in a narrow range

of 4.0 percent to 4.2 percent since May 2024. The number of unemployed people, at 7.2 million,

changed little in April. (See table A-1.)

 

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (4.0 percent), adult women

(3.7 percent), teenagers (12.9 percent), Whites (3.8 percent), Blacks (6.3 percent), Asians

(3.0 percent), and Hispanics (5.2 percent) showed little or no change over the month. (See

tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

 

In April, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) increased by

179,000 to 1.7 million. The long-term unemployed accounted for 23.5 percent of all unemployed

people. (See table A-12.)

 

Both the labor force participation rate, at 62.6 percent, and the employment-population ratio,

at 60.0 percent, changed little in April. These measures have shown little change over the

year. (See table A-1.)

 

The number of people employed part time for economic reasons, at 4.7 million, changed little

in April. These individuals would have preferred full-time employment but were working part

time because their hours had been reduced or they were unable to find full-time jobs. (See

table A-8.)

 

In April, the number of people not in the labor force who currently want a job was little

changed at 5.7 million. These individuals were not counted as unemployed because they were not

actively looking for work during the 4 weeks preceding the survey or were unavailable to take

a job. (See table A-1.)

 

Among those not in the labor force who wanted a job, the number of people marginally attached

to the labor force, at 1.6 million, changed little in April. These individuals wanted and were

available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months but had not looked

for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. The number of discouraged workers, a subset of

the marginally attached who believed that no jobs were available for them, also changed little

over the month at 414,000. (See Summary table A.)

 

Establishment Survey Data

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 177,000 in April, roughly in line with the

average monthly gain of 152,000 over the prior 12 months. In April, employment continued to

trend up in health care, transportation and warehousing, financial activities, and social

assistance. Federal government employment declined. (See table B-1.)

 

Health care added 51,000 jobs in April, about the same as the average monthly gain of 52,000

over the prior 12 months. In April, job growth continued in hospitals (+22,000) and ambulatory

health care services (+21,000).

 

Employment in transportation and warehousing increased by 29,000 in April, following little

change in the prior month (+3,000). Job gains occurred in warehousing and storage (+10,000),

couriers and messengers (+8,000), and air transportation (+3,000) in April. Transportation and

warehousing had added an average of 12,000 jobs per month over the prior 12 months.

 

In April, financial activities employment continued to trend up (+14,000). The industry has

added 103,000 jobs since its employment trough in April 2024.

 

Employment in social assistance continued its upward trend in April (+8,000) but at a slower

pace than the average monthly gain over the prior 12 months (+20,000).

 

Within government, federal government employment declined by 9,000 in April and is down by

26,000 since January. (Employees on paid leave or receiving ongoing severance pay are counted

as employed in the establishment survey.)

 

Employment showed little or no change over the month in other major industries, including

mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; construction; manufacturing; wholesale trade;

retail trade; information; professional and business services; leisure and hospitality; and

other services.

 

In April, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 6

cents, or 0.2 percent, to $36.06. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have

increased by 3.8 percent. In April, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and

nonsupervisory employees rose by 10 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $31.06. (See tables B-3 and

B-8.)

 

The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 34.3 hours

in April. In manufacturing, the average workweek edged down by 0.2 hour to 40.0 hours, and

overtime was unchanged at 2.9 hours. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory

employees on private nonfarm payrolls remained at 33.8 hours in April. (See tables B-2 and

B-7.)

 

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for February was revised down by 15,000, from

+117,000 to +102,000, and the change for March was revised down by 43,000, from +228,000 to

+185,000. With these revisions, employment in February and March combined is 58,000 lower than

previously reported. (Monthly revisions result from additional reports received from

businesses and government agencies since the last published estimates and from the

recalculation of seasonal factors.)

 

The Employment Situation for May is scheduled to be released on Friday, June 6, 2025, at

8:30 a.m. (ET).

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/empsit_05022025.htm

 

Comments

I am now able to republish this monthly BLS report as written using the BLS format. I appreciate the improvements and expect that the accuracy of this data will continue to improve. The value of this monthly report is that it identifies what jobs are currently in demand. It also gives a big picture view of the US economy.

I look forward to tracking the increases in Construction, Mining and Manufacturing that are planned to increase in the US.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader