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April 2025 Jobs Report: The Economy is Still Growing But Cautiously

The U.S. economy added 177,000 jobs in April 2025, exceeding expectations but reflecting a deceleration from the prior month’s upwardly revised 185,000 gains. The unemployment rate remained at 4.2%, holding steady for the third consecutive month. While hiring continued in several sectors, particularly healthcare, transportation and warehousing, and financial activities—layoffs in the federal government and manufacturing highlight the growing impact of economic uncertainty, especially around tariffs and government restructuring.

Employees want confidence that solid work and a well-managed organization lead to job security.

In this column, we continue to examine the seven individual attributes of the RESPECT model (Recognition, Exciting Work, Security, Pay, Education and Career Growth, Conditions, and Truth) by focusing on security.

With the recent pressure to reduce or scale back diversity programs, we have some news - our data says employees like their company’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) efforts. While our response may be controversial, the Q4 2024 Employee Experience & Engagement Survey by Engage2Excel sheds light on how U.S. employees perceive their employers’ DE&I initiatives. It provides valuable insights into workplace diversity and what employees want as organizations reevaluate their diversity programs.

Labor Market Rebounds in March with Strong Job Gains

The U.S. labor market bounced back in March, delivering stronger-than-expected job growth across several key sectors, even as signs of economic stress began to emerge due to aggressive trade and fiscal policy shifts.