US Q1 2026 gross job gains fall to 7.381m, the lowest since 2020

Hiring slowed while job losses held steady

Gross job gains count the jobs added by private businesses that opened or grew. Gross job losses count the jobs cut by businesses that shrank or closed. Together they show how much hiring and firing sits behind the net change in jobs.

• Gains were 7.381 million in Q1 2026, down from 7.859 million in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2025. That is the lowest quarterly figure since Q2 2020.
• Losses were 7.293 million, little changed from 7.250 million.
• The net gain was about +88k, down from roughly +609k in Q4.

Other labour data show the same pattern: hiring is weak and separations are steady.

New businesses added barely more jobs than closures cut

Newly opened businesses created 1.481 million jobs, the weakest in the recent run. That only just topped the 1.464 million jobs lost when businesses closed. Expansions at existing businesses added 5.900 million jobs, down from 6.194 million in Q4.

Big-city unemployment in September 2026 was mixed against a year earlier

These metro area rates are not seasonally adjusted. They fell from August across the large metro areas, mostly because of seasonal patterns.

• Chicago-Naperville: 4.3%, down from 5.2% in August and up from 4.2% a year ago. The number of unemployed people fell to about 224k from 267k.
• Los Angeles-Long Beach: 4.7%, well below 5.6% a year ago.
• San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland: 4.8%, down from 5.0% a year ago.
• Washington-Baltimore-Arlington: 3.6%, down from 4.1% a year ago.
• Detroit-Warren-Ann Arbor: 5.4%, up from 4.8% a year ago.
• Phoenix-Mesa: 4.2%, unchanged from a year ago.

Nationally, payrolls rose by +29k in September and the unemployment rate was 4.2%.

Earlier job gains and losses figures were revised

Revisions go back about five years and appear to be the usual annual update to seasonal adjustment. Most changes are small. Total gains for Q1 2025 were raised from 7.448 million to 7.577 million.