Nonfarm payroll added 177,000 jobs, as reported in the latest update from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is roughly in line with the average monthly gain of 152,000 over the prior 12 months. March’s figure was revised down to 185,000 from the previously reported 228,000, and February’s was revised down to 102,000 from 117,000.
Most of the employment growth for April was in health care (+51,000), transportation and warehousing (+29,000), and financial activities (+14,000). Meanwhile, temporary help services showed a slight recovery, adding 3,600 jobs after declining in previous months.
Other highlights from the latest BLS report include:
- The unemployment rate held steady at 4.2% over the month, with 7.2 million people unemployed.
- The employment-population ratio changed little at 60.0%, and the labor force participation rate, at 62.6%, also showed little change.
- The number of people employed part time for economic reasons, at 4.7 million, changed little in April.
- The number of people not in the labor force who currently want a job was little changed at 5.7 million.
Private employment adds 62,000 jobs
ADP’s National Employment Report showed a rise of just 62,000 jobs in private sector employment for April, a significant slowdown from March’s revised figure of 147,000 jobs (down from the initially reported 155,000).
“Unease is the word of the day. Employers are trying to reconcile policy and consumer uncertainty with a run of mostly positive economic data,” said Dr. Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP. “It can be difficult to make hiring decisions in such an environment.”
April gains were strongest in leisure/hospitality (+27,000), trade/transportation/utilities (+21,000), and financial activities (+20,000). Several sectors showed job losses, including education and health services (-23,000), information (-8,000), and professional and business services (-2,000).
Year-over-year pay gains were steady in April, with job-stayers seeing 4.5% wage growth (down slightly from March’s 4.6%) and job-changers experiencing 6.9% wage growth (up from March’s 6.7%).
