U.S. employment recorded a second straight month of solid job gains in April, breaking past early estimates despite the uncertainty brought on by the war in Iran. According to the monthly survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. employers added 115,000 workers to payrolls in April 2026. That was the third-highest monthly gain since December 2024. March’s very strong gain of 178,000 new jobs was revised up another 7,000 jobs to 185,000, however, February’s losses were revised down 23,000 to -156,000. Seven of the 11 major industries recorded job gains in April. The largest job additions were in the Trade/Transportation/Utilities sector, which added 60,000 jobs. Much of that gain was in the transportation and warehousing subsector, particularly couriers and messengers as consumers continue to make online purchases during this uncertain time. Retail trade also added to the total, led by building material and garden equipment sellers. Education/Health Services contributed 46,000 new jobs for the month, with the remaining five positive sectors making only moderate gains. The Government sector continued to lose jobs (-8,000), with almost all of that in the Federal category. The Information and Financial Services sectors lost a combined 24,000 jobs in April and Manufacturing lost 2,000 jobs, although various subsectors eked out modest gains. Meanwhile, the U3 seasonally adjusted headline unemployment rate (from the survey of households) registered at 4.3% in April, unchanged from March and up only 10 basis points from one year ago.
This post is part of a series analyzing employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For more on this data, read previous posts on Job Growth.
