Retail, Transportation & Warehousing and Healthcare drive job growth in April 2024

Total Non-Farm payroll employment increased by 175,000 in April, and the unemployment rate changed little at 3.9 percent. Job gains occurred in health care, in social assistance, and in transportation and warehousing. Both the unemployment rate, at 3.9 percent, and the number of unemployed people, at 6.5 million, changed little in April. The unemployment rate has remained in a narrow range of 3.7 percent to 3.9 percent since August 2023.

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more), at 1.3 million, was essentially unchanged in April. The long-term unemployed accounted for 19.6 percent of all unemployed people. In April, the number of people not in the labor force who currently want a job, at 5.6 million, was little changed. 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.