Total nonfarm payroll employment fell by 20.5 million in April, and the unemployment rate rose to
14.7 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The changes in these measures reflect
the effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and efforts to contain it. Employment fell sharply
in all major industry sectors, with particularly heavy job losses in leisure and hospitality.
This news release presents statistics from two monthly surveys. The household survey measures labor
force status, including unemployment, by demographic characteristics. The establishment survey
measures nonfarm employment, hours, and earnings by industry. For more information about the
concepts and statistical methodology used in these two surveys, see the Technical Note.
Household Survey Data
In April, the unemployment rate increased by 10.3 percentage points to 14.7 percent. This is the
highest rate and the largest over-the-month increase in the history of the series (seasonally adjusted data
are available back to January 1948). The number of unemployed persons rose by 15.9 million to 23.1
million in April. The sharp increases in these measures reflect the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and efforts to contain it. (See table A-1. For more information about how the household survey and its measures were affected by the coronavirus pandemic, see the box note on page 5.)
In April, unemployment rates rose sharply among all major worker groups. The rate was 13.0 percent
for adult men, 15.5 percent for adult women, 31.9 percent for teenagers, 14.2 percent for Whites, 16.7 percent for Blacks, 14.5 percent for Asians, and 18.9 percent for Hispanics. The rates for all of these groups, with the exception of Blacks, represent record highs for their respective series.
The number of unemployed persons who reported being on temporary layoff increased about ten-fold
to 18.1 million in April. The number of permanent job losers increased by 544,000 to 2.0 million.
In April, the number of unemployed persons who were jobless less than 5 weeks increased by 10.7
million to 14.3 million, accounting for almost two-thirds of the unemployed. The number of
unemployed persons who were jobless 5 to 14 weeks rose by 5.2 million to 7.0 million. The number of
long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more), at 939,000, declined by 225,000 over the
month and represented 4.1 percent of the unemployed.
The labor force participation rate decreased by 2.5 percentage points over the month to 60.2 percent,
the lowest rate since January 1973 (when it was 60.0 percent). Total employment, as measured by the
household survey, fell by 22.4 million to 133.4 million. The employment-population ratio, at 51.3
percent, dropped by 8.7 percentage points over the month. This is the lowest rate and largest over-themonth decline in the history of the series (seasonally adjusted data are available back to January 1948).
The number of persons who usually work full time declined by 15.0 million over the month, and the
number who usually work part time declined by 7.4 million. Part-time workers accounted for one-third
of the over-the-month employment decline. (See table A-9.)
The number of persons at work part time for economic reasons nearly doubled over the month to 10.9
million. 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. This group includes
persons who usually work full time and persons who usually work part time.
The number of persons not in the labor force who currently want a job, at 9.9 million, nearly doubled
in April. These individuals were not counted as unemployed because they were not actively looking for
work during the last 4 weeks or were unavailable to take a job.
Persons marginally attached to the labor force—a subset of persons not in the labor force who
currently want a job—numbered 2.3 million in April, up by 855,000 over the month. These individuals
were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in
the prior 12 months but had not looked for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. Discouraged
workers, a subset of the marginally attached who believed that no jobs were available for them,
numbered 574,000 in April, little changed from the previous month.
Establishment Survey Data
Total nonfarm payroll employment fell by 20.5 million in April, after declining by 870,000 in March.
The April over-the-month decline is the largest in the history of the series and brought employment to its lowest level since February 2011 (the series dates back to 1939). Job losses in April were widespread, with the largest employment decline occurring in leisure and hospitality.
In April, employment in leisure and hospitality plummeted by 7.7 million, or 47 percent. Almost threequarters of the decrease occurred in food services and drinking places (-5.5 million).
Employment also fell in the arts, entertainment, and recreation industry (-1.3 million) and in the accommodation industry (-839,000).
Employment declined by 2.5 million in education and health services in April. In health care,
employment declined by 1.4 million, led by losses in offices of dentists (-503,000), offices of physicians (-243,000), and offices of other health care practitioners (-205,000). Employment also declined in social assistance (-651,000), reflecting job losses in child day care services (-336,000) and individual and family services (-241,000). Employment in private education declined by 457,000 over the month.
Professional and business services shed 2.1 million jobs in April. Sharp losses occurred in temporary
help services (-842,000) and in services to buildings and dwellings (-259,000).
In April, employment in retail trade declined by 2.1 million. Job losses occurred in clothing and
clothing accessories stores (-740,000), motor vehicle and parts dealers (-345,000), miscellaneous store retailers (-264,000), and furniture and home furnishings stores (-209,000). By contrast, the component of general merchandise stores that includes warehouse clubs and supercenters gained 93,000 jobs.
In April, manufacturing employment dropped by 1.3 million. About two-thirds of the decline was in
durable goods manufacturing (-914,000), which saw losses in motor vehicles and parts (-382,000) and in fabricated metal products (-109,000). Nondurable goods manufacturing shed 416,000 jobs.
Employment in the other services industry declined by 1.3 million in April, with nearly two-thirds of
the decline occurring in personal and laundry services (-797,000).
Government employment dropped by 980,000 in April. Employment in local government was down by
801,000, in part reflecting school closures. Employment also declined in state government education
(-176,000).
Construction employment fell by 975,000 in April, with much of the loss in specialty trade contractors (-691,000). Job losses also occurred in construction of buildings (-206,000).
Employment fell in transportation and warehousing in April (-584,000). Transit and ground passenger
transportation and air transportation lost 185,000 jobs and 141,000 jobs, respectively.
Wholesale trade shed 363,000 jobs in April, largely reflecting losses in the durable and nondurable
goods components.
Employment in financial activities fell by 262,000 over the month, with the vast majority of the decline occurring in real estate and rental and leasing (-222,000).
Employment in information fell by 254,000 in April, driven by a decline in motion picture and sound
recording industries (-217,000).
Mining lost 46,000 jobs in April, with most of the decline occurring in support activities for mining
(-33,000).
In April, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by $1.34 to
$30.01. Average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees
increased by $1.04 to $25.12 in April. The increases in average hourly earnings largely reflect the
substantial job loss among lower-paid workers; this change, along with earnings increases, put upward
pressure on the average hourly earnings estimates. (See tables B-3 and B-8.)
The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.1 hour to 34.2
hours in April. In manufacturing, the workweek declined by 2.1 hours to 38.3 hours, and overtime
declined by 0.9 hour to 2.1 hours. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory
employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.1 hour to 33.5 hours. (See tables B-2 and B-7.)
The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for February was revised down by 45,000 from
+275,000 to +230,000, and the change for March was revised down by 169,000 from -701,000 to
-870,000. With these revisions, employment changes in February and March combined were 214,000
lower than previously reported. (Monthly revisions result from additional reports received from
businesses and government agencies since the last published estimates and from the recalculation of
seasonal factors.)
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.