HR Brew // Morning Brew // Update

RECRUITMENT & RETENTION

Anna Kim

Folks already wincing this morning in anticipation of today’s jobs report were in for a surprise.

The latest jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics once again beat expectations and even points to the labor market stabilizing, labor economists told HR Brew, despite concerns over how the US-Israeli war with Iran might hurt the economy. That said, as an energy crisis looms, concerns about a hiring slowdown linger.

Employers added 115,000 jobs in April, beating economists’ expectations of 55,000, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. Job gains for March were revised up to 185,000, while total losses in February were lowered even further to 156,000. The unemployment rate was unchanged, from 4.3%.

Excluding February, which saw job losses partly due to winter storms and healthcare strikes, the labor market has added at least 115,000 jobs per month since January, suggesting a normalization of sorts for employers, Nicole Bachaud, a labor economist at ZipRecruiter, told HR Brew.

For more on what HR needs to know about the latest jobs report, keep reading here.—PM

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DEI

Uphill battle

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Morning Brew

The debate over the future of DEI in the US has permeated borders over the last 15 months, leading employers in other countries to pull back on their programming as well. New data suggests that some HR leaders committed to DEI overseas are struggling to preserve it.

Where in the world? Roughly one in three HR leaders in the UK have faced resistance to DEI programming over the past year, according to a recent survey of 565 HR leaders from employment nonprofit Working Chance and YouGov.

“If this trend continues, then access to work is likely to become increasingly difficult for people who already face significant barriers to employment, including those with criminal convictions,” Natasha Finlayson, CEO of Working Chance, a UK charity that helps women with criminal histories find work, said in a press release.

Satellite view. In the US, many DEI programs and policies appear to be moving forward, despite the Trump administration’s never-ending attempts to pressure companies to end them. While DEI may not be as much of a priority, 63% of HR professionals say their organization’s investment in the practice didn’t change in 2025, according to a recent HR Brew survey.

For more on the state of DEI around the world, keep reading here.—KP

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WORK PERKS

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Francis Scialabba

Today’s top HR reads.

Stat: Nearly half (49%) of Black workers feel burned out, compared to 42% of non-Black workers. (EBRI)

Quote: “That’s an extra cost employers haven’t planned for, and it’s going to cause them to have to pay well above market in an already competitive market in a lot of places.”—Kevin Miner, partner at immigration law firm Fragomen, on considerations for employers as the Trump administration makes it more expensive to hire H-1B visa holders (Bloomberg)

Read: Elon Musk’s lawsuit against Sam Altman and OpenAI underscores how employees’ communications can come back to haunt them. (Business Insider)

Beep, beep: A new survey by OrgChart of 400+ HR leaders analyzes the tools, challenges, and opportunities available as they navigate uncertainty. See what kind of workforce planning can help.*

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Written by Paige McGlauflin, Kristen Parisi, and Brianna Monsanto

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