The U.S. job market slowed slightly in April, with notable downward revisions to February and March figures. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.2%. The labor market remains resilient despite growing economic uncertainty, though early signs of softening are beginning to emerge.

In April, wage growth remained unchanged. Year-over-year, wages grew at a 3.8% rate. Wage growth has been outpacing inflation for nearly two years, which typically occurs as productivity increases.

National Employment

According to the Employment Situation Summary reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 177,000 in April, following a downwardly revised increase of 185,000 jobs in March. Since January 2021, the U.S. job market has added jobs for 52 consecutive months, making it the third-longest period of employment expansion on record. Monthly employment growth has averaged 144,000 per month in 2025, compared with the 168,000 monthly average gain for 2024.

The estimates for the previous two months were revised down. The monthly change in total nonfarm payroll employment for February was revised down by 15,000 from +117,000 to +102,000, while the change for March was revised down by 43,000 from +228,000 to +185,000. Combined, the revisions were 58,000 lower than previously reported.

The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.2% in April. While the number of employed persons increased by 436,000, the number of unemployed persons increased by 82,000.

Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate—the proportion of the population either looking for a job or already holding a job—rose one percentage point to 62.6%. Among individuals aged 25 to 54, the participation rate rose three percentage points to 83.6%, marking the highest rate since September 2024. Despite these gains, the overall labor force participation rate remains below its pre-pandemic levels of 63.3% at the beginning of 2020. Additionally, the rate for the prime working-age group (25 to 54) has been trending downward since peaking at 83.9% last summer.

In April, industries like health care (+51,000), transportation and warehousing (+29,000), and financial activities (+14,000) continued to see gains. Meanwhile, federal government employment lost 9,000 jobs in April and has shed 26,000 since January 2025, reflecting the effects of government cutbacks. The BLS notes that “employees on paid leave or receiving ongoing severance pay are counted as employed in the establishment survey.”

Construction Employment

Employment in the overall construction sector increased by 11,000 in April, following a downwardly revised gain of 7,000 in March. While residential construction gained 3,400 jobs, non-residential construction employment added 8,000 jobs for the month.

Residential construction employment now stands at 3.3 million in April, broken down as 956,000 builders and 2.4 million residential specialty trade contractors. The six-month moving average of job gains for residential construction was -1,583 a month, mainly reflecting the three months’ job loss over the past six months (October 2024, January 2025, and March 2025). Over the last 12 months, home builders and remodelers added 5,000 jobs on a net basis. Since the low point following the Great Recession, residential construction has gained 1,367,000 positions.

In April, the unemployment rate for construction workers rose to 5.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis. The unemployment rate for construction workers has remained at a relatively lower level, after reaching 15.3% in April 2020 due to the housing demand impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.