Workspan Daily News Bytes for May 8, 2026

April Job Gains Beat Projections; Unemployment Remains 4.3%

American nonfarm employers added 115,000 jobs in April and the unemployment rate remained at 4.3%, according to a report released Friday, May 8, by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Economists had predicted an increase of 67,000 jobs and unchanged (4.3%) unemployment rate.

The industry data showed:

Healthcare added 37,000 jobs, in line with the average monthly gain of 32,000 over the prior 12 months. Over the month, job gains occurred in nursing and residential care facilities (+15,000) and home healthcare services (+11,000).
Transportation and warehousing employment increased by 30,000, reflecting a gain in couriers and messengers (+38,000). However, employment in transportation and warehousing is down by 105,000 since reaching a peak in February 2025.
Retail added 22,000 jobs. Employment increased in warehouse clubs, supercenters and other general merchandise retailers (+18,000) and in building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers (+13,000). These gains were partially offset by job losses in department stores (-7,000) and in electronics and appliance retailers (-2,000). Retail trade employment had shown little net change over the prior 12 months.
Social assistance continued to trend up (+17,000), reflecting a gain of 24,000 jobs in individual and family services.
Federal government employment continued to decline (-9,000). Since reaching a peak in October 2024, federal government employment is down by 348,000, or 11.5%.
The information sector continued to trend down in April (-13,000). Telecommunications lost 3,000 jobs, while employment continued to trend down in motion picture and sound recording industries (-6,000) and in computing infrastructure providers, data processing, web hosting and related services (-4,000). Information employment is down by 342,000, or 11.0%, since its most recent peak in November 2022.
Employment showed little change over the month in other major industries, including mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; construction; manufacturing; wholesale trade; financial activities; professional and business services; leisure and hospitality; and other services.

Examining unemployment:

The unemployment rate remained stable, and the number of unemployed people changed little at 7.4 million.
Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (4.0%), adult women (3.9%), teenagers (14.4%), and people who are White (3.7%), Black (7.3%), Asian (3.3%) or Hispanic (5.0%) showed little change.
The number of people jobless less than five weeks increased by 358,000 to 2.5 million in April. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was essentially unchanged at 1.8 million and accounted for 25.3% of all unemployed people.

Examining wage-and-hour data:

Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 6 cents, or 0.2%, to $37.41. Over the year, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.6%. In April, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees rose by 11 cents, or 0.3%, to $32.23.
The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged up by 0.1 hour to 34.3 hours in April. In manufacturing, the average workweek edged up by 0.1 hour to 40.4 hours, and overtime was unchanged at 3.0 hours. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls remained at 33.8 hours.

JOLTS Report Shows Increased American Hiring Activity in March

The latest BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report, released Tuesday, May 5, showed the number of American job openings remained largely unchanged at 6.9 million on the last business day of March. While open positions held firm, hiring activity increased over the month, signaling a resilient labor market.

Among the report’s key findings:

Hires increased to 5.6 million (+655,000), increasing the hires rate to 3.5%.
Separations (including quits, layoffs and discharges) were fairly stable, at 5.4 million, with a 3.4% rate.

The hires activity offset declines seen in the previous month. Industries experiencing notable increases were:

Transportation, warehousing, and utilities, +108,000.
Professional and business services, +165,000.
Accommodation and food services, +124,000.

Federal government hiring decreased slightly (-7,000).

While the national job openings rate held steady at 4.1%, there was significant movement within specific sectors. Openings decreased in professional and business services (-318,000); conversely, the finance and insurance sector saw an increase in available positions (+98,000).

April Job Cuts Rose 38% vs. March; YTD Cuts Down 50%

U.S.-based employers announced 83,387 job cuts in April, marking a sharp 38% increase from the 60,620 layoffs recorded in March, according to a report released Thursday, May 7, by outplacement and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

While layoffs accelerated month-over-month, April’s total is 21% lower than the 105,441 cuts announced in April 2025. However, the April 2026 figure still ranks as the third-highest April total since 2009, trailing only April 2025 and 2020.

The technology sector led all industries in layoff announcements last month, with 33,361. Government was next, with 9,149.

Andy Challenger, the chief revenue officer for Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said tech companies are frequently citing investment in artificial intelligence (AI) as a reason behind job cuts.

“Regardless of whether individual jobs are being replaced by AI, the money for those roles is,” he said.

Despite the somber month-over-month news, the overall labor market contraction for 2026 is lower than in 2025. So far this year, employers have announced 300,749 job cuts, down 50% from the 602,493 cuts recorded through April 2025.

ADP: U.S. Private Sector Added 109,000 Jobs; Pay Gains Were 4.4%

Private-sector employment in the U.S. increased by 109,000 jobs in April and pay was up 4.4% year-over-year, according to the ADP National Employment Report, released Wednesday, May 6.

The report, produced by ADP Research in collaboration with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, is an independent measure of the labor market based on the anonymized weekly payroll data of more than 26 million U.S. private-sector employees. Each month, it captures more than 15 million individual pay change observations.

Healthcare’s continued strength, along with a rebound in trade, transportation and utilities, fueled last month’s hiring acceleration. It was the fastest pace of job growth since January 2025. ADP reported 62,000 new jobs in its March report.

The April data breakdown for jobs showed:

Among service-providing industries:
- Education/health services, +61,000
- Trade/transportation/utilities, +25,000
- Financial activities, +9,000
- Information, +4,000
- Leisure/hospitality, +4,000
- Professional/business services, -8,000
- Other services, -1,000
Among goods-producing industries:
- Construction, +10,000
- Natural resources/mining, +3,000
- Manufacturing, +2,000

Large employers (those with 500 or more employees) and small employers (less than 50 employees) accounted for nearly all of the job expansion. Large employers added 42,000 jobs and smaller establishments added 65,000. Medium employers (50 to 499 employees) added just 2,000 jobs.

For compensation, while pay growth for job-stayers slowed slightly to 4.4% (from 4.5% in March), gains for job-changers were steady at 6.6%.

“Small and large employers are hiring, but we’re seeing softness in the middle,” said ADP chief economist Nela Richardson. “Large companies have resources to deploy, and small ones are the most nimble — both important advantages in a complex labor environment”

U.S. Pulls Further Ahead in Pay for AI and Digital Roles

Pay for AI and digital talent continues to diverge sharply by country, with the U.S. extending its lead while Germany and the United Kingdom strengthen their positions in Europe, according to findings from WTW’s latest Artificial Intelligence and Digital Talent Salary Survey Reports, released Wednesday, May 6

Median pay for machine learning roles (mid-level, technical expert) is highest in the U.S. by a wide margin. At the median, total compensation for these roles (including salary, allowances, and short and long-term incentives) exceeds $170,000 in the U.S., compared to around $122,000 in Germany and just under $100,000 in the U.K. Canada has fallen behind the U.K. this year, into fourth place for AI pay.

Across all countries studied, median pay for machine learning roles increased, on average, by 2% for salaries and 6% in total compensation, but Brazil and Mexico posted double‑digit growth, with Mexico seeing a 19% rise in salaries and a 29% jump in total compensation. By contrast, Canada recorded declines in median pay for these roles, highlighting cooling pressure in some mature markets.

“AI pay is no longer just about where salaries are highest, but where momentum is building fastest and how employers are aligning pay and incentives to keep pace,” said Lesli Jennings, WTW’s North America leader for work, rewards and careers. “Employers that rely on last year’s assumptions risk falling behind, particularly as short- and long-term incentives play a bigger role in fast‑growing markets.”

AI Makes Its Mark on Hiring Decisions, Workforce Planning

Seventy-three percent of U.S. employers are using AI in their hiring decisions, according to a new report by career website MyPerfectResume.

With this filter on, 65% of the respondents said AI is automatically rejecting job candidates before any human review.

Rejection levels vary:

26% of surveyed employers said AI rejects 1% to 25% of applicants.
25% said it rejects 26% to 50%.
11% said it rejects 51% to 75%.
3% said it rejects more than 75%.

Only 5% reported that AI doesn’t reject candidates at all.

AI also is influencing broader organizational strategy:

52% of respondents said they use AI for workforce planning decisions, including restructuring and role evaluation.
28% are considering adopting AI for these purposes.
20% said they don’t plan to use it in workforce planning at all.

As AI takes on a larger role in workforce decisions, confidence in its fairness remains uneven:

51% of surveyed employers said they’re confident this technology is used fairly in layoffs.
23% expressed doubts.
26% don’t use it in layoff decisions.

New Bill Provides Living Organ Donors Four Weeks of Paid Leave

Tennessee passed legislation in April (Senate Bill 579/House Bill 427) that provides four weeks of paid leave for state employees recovering from a living organ donation, while also protecting donors from insurance discrimination. This new law supports state employees, ensuring they don’t have to choose between their health and their paycheck.

Key details regarding Tennessee and federal organ donor leave:

Tennessee state employees: The new law provides four weeks of paid leave for living organ donation recovery.
Private-sector employees: While Tennessee specifically enacted protections for state employees, private-sector employees may qualify for unpaid, job-protected leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
Protection: The new legislation prohibits insurers from denying coverage, limiting benefits or charging higher rates to organ donors.
Federal employees: Federal law already provides 30 days of paid leave for organ donation and seven days for bone marrow donation.

This legislation aims to remove barriers for living donors, encouraging organ donation without financial penalty.

Figures and Facts of the Week

17,000: The number of employees who were impacted when Spirit Airlines ceased operations on Saturday, May 2, after 34 years.
4,760: The amount of workers PayPal plans to eliminate over the next three to four years as the financial technology company ramps up AI adoption and cuts costs, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. The figure equates to about 20% of its staff.
70: The percentage of business leaders who identified nimbleness — the ability to rapidly adapt to and capitalize on shifting business, customer and market needs — as their primary competitive strategy for the next three years, according to Deloitte’s 2026 Global Human Capital Trends report.
64: The percentage of U.S. workers aged 50 or older who report seeing or experiencing age discrimination in the workplace, according to a report from AARP.
18: The percentage of talent acquisition teams who have a defined approach to AI, according to a recent report by recruiting software company ICIMS.

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