April jobs report: Spring surge continues
Daniel Zhao
Chief Economist at Glassdoor | May 8, 2026
The latest jobs numbers are out from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. What do they mean for job seekers, employers and investors? Here’s a quick take from Glassdoor’s Chief Economist Daniel Zhao.
The job market continued its spring surge with a strong April jobs report following the surprisingly strong March jobs report. Despite concerns about the U.S.-Iran war and rising energy prices, hiring has picked up and broadened, according to the latest jobs report.
Key stats
- Payroll employment grew by 115,000 in April, slower than the 185,000 jobs added in March but rebounding from a sharp loss of 156,000 jobs in February.
- The unemployment rate was flat at 4.3% in April, though just like in March, this was married with a decline in labor force participation: 61.8% in April, down from 61.9% in March and 62% in February.
- Average hourly earnings rose by 3.6% year-over-year in April, up from 3.4% year-over-year growth in March.
More insights
Payroll employment grew 115,000 in April, better than expected & following the strong 185,000 jobs added in March. Both March and April are a strong rebound from the sharp -156,000 job loss in February, and hopefully point to the job market finding surer footing.
Health care & social assistance is not the only star in the show anymore either, accounting for less than half the jobs added in both March and April.
So far in 2026, professional & business services, construction, retail, transportation & warehousing, and manufacturing have all seen more positive job gains compared to H2 2025. Leisure & hospitality has slowed but continues to add jobs on net. Education, government, finance and information are all still shedding jobs.
Average hourly earnings grew 3.6% year-over-year in April, up from 3.4% in March. However, on a 3-month annualized basis, wage growth has been much weaker, at just 2.8% as of April, right as rising energy prices bite into household budgets.
The unemployment rate was unchanged in April at 4.3%, a healthy rate.
But labor force participation declined yet again, continuing a 5-month streak of declines, driven in part by population aging as retirees exit the workforce.
Despite the decline in overall labor force participation, prime-age (25–54) labor force participation and employment-population ratio were both flat in April and remain just below their recent peaks, showing that workers remain engaged with the labor force.
The unemployment rate rose slightly for Black workers (7.3% in April from 7.1% in March), Hispanic or Latino workers (5% from 4.8%) and white workers (3.7% from 3.6%). Asian unemployment dropped in April, falling to 3.3% from 3.7%.
Daniel Zhao
Daniel Zhao is Chief Economist at Glassdoor. On Glassdoor's Economic Research team, he has conducted research using Glassdoor's unique data on a variety of topics affecting job seekers and employers ranging from the health of the job market to pay transparency to employee engagement & retention. His work has been cited in publications like the New York Times, the Harvard Business Review and more. Prior to joining the Economic Research team, he also worked on improving the user experience for Glassdoor’s consumer jobs product and mobile app. He holds a bachelor's degree in applied mathematics and economics from Harvard College.
