Job growth was stronger than expected in April despite worries over the impact of President Donald Trump’s blanket tariffs against U.S. trading partners.
Nonfarm payrolls increased a seasonally adjusted 177,000 for the month, slightly below the downwardly revised 185,000 in March but above the Dow Jones estimate for 133,000, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.
The unemployment rate, however, held at 4.2%, as expected, indicating that the labor market is holding relatively stable. The survey of households, which is used to calculate the jobless rate, showed an even stronger gain, with an increase of 436,000 in those who reported holding jobs on the month.
A broader unemployment gauge that includes discouraged workers and those holding part-time jobs for economic reasons, or the underemployed, edged lower to 7.8%. The labor force participation rate edged higher to 62.6%.
The report comes amid an uncertain climate in which Trump kicked off April by slapping a 10% across-the-board tariffs on U.S. imports, and threatened a menu of other “reciprocal” duties on dozens of other nations.
However, Trump later decided to put a 90-day hold on the reciprocal tariffs pending ongoing negotiations. In recent days, White House officials have indicated that deals with some of the impacted nations are forthcoming, though there have been no official announcements.
Health care continued to be a leader in job creation, adding 51,000 jobs. Other sectors posting gains included transportation and warehousing (29,000), financial activities (14,000) and social assistance.
The federal government reported a loss of 9,000 jobs on the month amid Trump’s efforts, led by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency, to trim payrolls in the public sector. Federal government jobs have declined by just 26,000 since January, as employees furloughed but still receiving severance are not counted as unemployed, according to the BLS.
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