U.S. employers added 115,000 jobs in April, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated May 8, fueling some cautious optimism about hiring even as high oil prices tied to the Iran war and rising AI adoption pose risks to the labor market.
The April estimate comes in above forecasters’ expectations, but below the department’s now-revised estimated gain of 185,000 jobs added in March. Although U.S. employers shed an estimated 156,000 jobs in February, every other monthly report so far this year has indicated hiring is trending stronger in 2026 than it was last year, when employers added only about 15,000 jobs per month on average. By comparison, U.S. employers added more than 150,000 jobs per month on average in 2024.
The unemployment rate remained at 4.3% in April. Officials and analysts see the unemployment rate as solid but say it does not tell the full story as immigration crackdowns and retirements from an aging workforce are limiting the supply of job seekers.
Still, positive job growth and a solid unemployment rate could prompt a Federal Reserve that has been concerned with slowing in the labor market to turn its attention back to inflation as an extended conflict in the Middle East pushes prices higher.
