April 2026 Jobs Day Analysis

The Joint Center analyzes unemployment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and shows how these numbers affect Black workers. Our April Jobs Day analysis is below.

• From March to April, the unemployment rate for Black workers increased from 7.1 percent to 7.3 percent.
• In April 2025, the unemployment rate for Black workers was one percentage point lower at 6.3 percent.
• From March to April, the number of Black workers employed decreased by 179,000.
• In April, the overall unemployment rate was 4.3 percent, while the Black unemployment rate was 7.3 percent.
• At 7.3 percent, the Black unemployment rate remains the highest among all racial groups, compared to 3.7 percent for White workers, 5.0 percent for Hispanic workers, and 3.3 percent for Asian workers.

• From March to April, the unemployment rate for Black men decreased from 7.9 percent to 7.6 percent.
• The unemployment rate for Black women increased from 6.3 percent to 6.9 percent.

• From March to April, the unemployment rate for young Black workers increased from 12.3 percent to 13.4 percent. The overall unemployment rate for all young workers also increased from 8.2 percent to 8.5 percent.

• The U.S. economy added 115,000 jobs in April, exceeding the 55,000 forecast in the Dow Jones consensus estimate. The stronger-than-expected gain suggests that hiring was more resilient than economists anticipated. However, the simultaneous decline of the number of Black workers employed shows that overall job growth does not always mean employment gains for Black workers.

What the April Jobs Report Means for Black Workers 

By: Cantrell Dumas, Senior Researcher for Financial Regulation and Policy 

The April jobs report was stronger than expected, but it also showed why headline numbers can obscure important differences in who is benefiting from the labor market. The U.S. economy added 115,000 jobs in April, more than double the 55,000 jobs economists had expected. That suggests hiring remained more resilient than anticipated. But for Black workers, the picture was less encouraging. From March to April, the number of Black workers counted as employed fell by 179,000. In other words, even as the economy added jobs overall, fewer Black workers were employed. 

The unemployment data point in the same direction. The Black unemployment rate rose from 7.1 percent in March to 7.3 percent in April, compared with an overall unemployment rate of 4.3 percent. Black unemployment also remained higher than that of every other major racial group, including white workers at 3.7 percent, Hispanic workers at 5 percent, and Asian workers at 3.3 percent. These gaps are not new, but they are an important reminder that a labor market can appear relatively healthy in the aggregate while still producing very different outcomes across racial groups. 

The broader lesson is straightforward. The April jobs report may suggest that the labor market is holding up better than expected. But national averages do not tell the full story. For Black workers, the April report shows a labor market that remains far less secure than the headline numbers suggest.