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The American employment landscape is constantly changing. Keep up-to-date with the most recent trends with our monthly Employment Update. All figures are provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the America Staffing Association.
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.
The labor force participation rate held at 62.7 percent in April, and the employment-population ratio was little changed at 60.2 percent. These measures have shown little change over the year.
In April, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 7 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $34.75. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.9 percent. In April, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees edged up by 6 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $29.83.
The number of people employed part time for economic reasons, at 4.5 million, changed little in April. These individuals, who would have preferred full-time employment, were working part time because their hours had been reduced or they were unable to find full-time jobs.
Among those not in the labor force who wanted a job, the number of people marginally attached to the labor force, at 1.6 million, was little changed in April. The number of discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached who believed that no jobs were available for them, also changed little over the month at 362,000.
Temporary help employment was 1.73% of total nonfarm employment in April, little changed from March at 1.74%.
Temporary help jobs in April decreased -6.3%, seasonally adjusted, from the same month last year.
Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 175,000 in April, lower than the average monthly gain of 242,000 over the prior 12 months.
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Acara summarizes the latest industry trends each month to keep you informed as you make decisions about the future of your business.
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$2bn in potential revenue if financial institution efforts broaden services for black Americans
160m women may need to change jobs through 2030 due to automation
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The reason we only have 28% women in the C-suite is because we aren’t building that leadership path at the very beginning of [women’s] careers, to create a pool of talent that would be available and ready for those opportunities when they open up.
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66% of the 1,000 respondents say they need to develop new skills to be successful at their job. Here are the five trends spotted in the report:
• Personalized learning
• Overall well-being will help support
• AI in training
• Integrating L&D with business goals
• Focus on interpersonal skills
• Fast-track the development of new skills.
• Fire up internal mobility to address skill gaps.
• Embed learning into the workflow.
• Shift from a content-centric to a learner-centric approach.
• Empower learners with data.
• Craft captivating learning experiences.
• Develop a learning culture as learning takes a village.