Staffing Trends
May 2026 Jobs Report
Video Transcript
Hi, I'm Jeff Burnett, CEO of Labor Finders, and welcome to this month's Labor Market in a Minute for the month of April.
How many jobs were added to the economy?
For the month of April, the jobs data reported for the month of April showed an increase of 115,000 jobs. While this was significantly less than the prior month, it was far above expectations and consensus. Now, the two prior months of February and March were revised, as is always the case, and there was a decrease of 16,000 jobs combined from what was originally reported.
What is this month's unemployment rate?
Unemployment rate stayed steady at 4.3% as it was in the prior month.
What is the status of job openings?
Job openings and new hires continue to be at low levels. Matter of fact, job openings are at their lowest level since 2020. So we remain in this prolonged low hire, low fire environment.
What is happening with inflation?
The Fed target rate for inflation is 2% and the latest indication of inflation shows it's now running at 3.3%. This is significantly up since the last indication from the government, and the inflation rate for all of 2025 was 2.7%.
What is happening with interest rates?
The interest rates have not declined at all this year. Three meetings have taken place and the Fed has decided not to reduce interest rates. So we've got 5 meetings remaining for the year and we'll see if there's any decisions to make any rate cuts in the balance of the year.
