U.S. Workforce Recovery Analysis: April 2025

Our monthly workforce recovery analysis has been updated to include the latest employment report for April.

The Unemployment Rate

The closely watched headline unemployment rate is a calculation of the percentage of the civilian labor force, age 16 and older, that is currently unemployed. In the latest report, this indicator remained at 4.2% which was consistent with the forecast. This marks the 12th straight month the unemployment rate has been 4.0% or higher after 27 consecutive months below 4.0% (the longest streak since the late 60s).

Let's put this metric into its historical context. The first chart below illustrates this monthly data point since 1990.

Unemployment Rate since 1990

The age 16+ population increased by 174,000 and the labor force increased by 518,000. The breakdown of the growth is an increase of 436,000 employed and a 81,000 increase in the unemployed.