April Jobs Report Shows Uneven Labor Market Growth As Inflation Outpaces Wages

April Jobs Report Shows Uneven Labor Market Growth As Inflation Outpaces Wages

Wages grew by just 0.2%, likely falling behind inflation as Iran war fuels price hikes

Today’s jobs report shows the labor market added 115,000 jobs in April, while the number of jobs added across February and March was revised down by 16,000. Since the start of 2026, job gains have averaged just 76,000 per month. The unemployment rate held at 4.3%, near its highest level in four years. Though topline job growth figures may appear steady, this report revealed average wages grew by just 0.2% last month, which next week’s inflation print will almost certainly confirm are behind rising prices.

Groundwork’s Managing Director of Policy and Advocacy Elizabeth Pancotti released the following statement:

“While the president touts this lukewarm headline jobs report, Americans can look at their own paychecks to take the temperature of the labor market. Price hikes fueled by Trump’s senseless war and misguided tariffs are forcing Americans to stretch already-thin budgets to the brink. Working families are being crushed under the weight of Trump’s misguided economic agenda as wages slip behind the skyrocketing price of gas, groceries, and everyday goods.”

BACKGROUND

• Trump’s economic mismanagement is squeezing workers, as paychecks fail to keep up with rising prices. 
  • As wage growth stalls and inflation spikes, Americans are forced to stretch already-thin budgets to the brink. Average hourly earnings grew by just 0.2% in April, while inflation is expected to rise about 0.4%.
  • New Bank of America research reveals that wage growth is highly unequal, as high-income workers saw their wages climb by 6% over the past year and everyone else saw wages slip behind inflation.
  • Trump’s war in Iran is driving higher prices throughout the economy. Gas prices have surged above $4.50 per gallon, up 50% since Trump’s war began, and those increases are showing up in the price of goods and services. As wage growth slows, higher prices on everyday expenses are all the more painful for American families.
• Hiring is concentrated in a handful of sectors as Trump’s war in Iran drags down the broader economy.
  • Health care alone accounted for nearly half (47%) of jobs created. This confirms ADP’s employment report released earlier this week which showed two industries alone accounted for nearly 80% of private-sector jobs created.
  • Despite Trump’s promise of a manufacturing renaissance, manufacturing jobs slipped by an additional 2,000, amounting to nearly 75,000 manufacturing job losses over the past year.
  • The labor market is leaving some workers behind. The unemployment rate for Black workers was 7.3% in April and 7.6% for workers aged 20-24, both nearly double the rate of overall unemployment.
  • As Trump’s war in Iran drags on, Goldman Sachs estimates that it is costing the economy 10,000 jobs every month.
• Trump’s economy is failing workers, with underemployment rising and more workers shut out of stable, full-time jobs.
  • More than 25% of unemployed workers have now been out of work and looking for a job for 6 months or longer. The number of workers stuck in part-time jobs because they cannot find full-time work increased by 10% in the last month alone, rising to 4.9 million.
  • Though the headline unemployment rate remained unchanged, it’s largely due to a shrinking workforce as workers increasingly become discouraged. The broader U-6 unemployment rate, which captures discouraged, marginally attached, and involuntary part-time workers, rose to 8.2%, up from 7.8% in April 2025. Discouraged workers, those who stopped looking because they believed no jobs were available to them, account for nearly 27% of marginally attached workers, up from 22% in March.