US employers added to payrolls for a second month in April, marking the first back-to-back advance in nearly a year, and the unemployment rate held steady.
Nonfarm payrolls rose 115,000 last month after a surge in March, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data out Friday. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey called for a 65,000 increase. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.3%.
The report showcases a labor market that's stabilizing after near-zero job growth last year. While demand for workers remains subdued, layoff activity is still low and tax cuts are providing a tailwind for consumer spending and business investment.
The data offer Federal Reserve policymakers space to keep interest rates unchanged for the foreseeable future as they focus on fresh inflationary risks from the war with Iran. Last week, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the job market has shown “more and more signs of stability.”
A key question going forward is whether the Iran war, which has already driven inflation higher and pushed a gauge of consumer sentiment to record lows, will begin to weigh on hiring. A pullback in consumer spending or sustained rise in input costs may prompt companies to recalibrate by shedding hours or positions.
Stock-index futures held gains, while Treasury yields remained lower and the dollar weakened after the figures.
The advance in hiring was led by healthcare, transportation and warehousing and retail trade. Manufacturing employment fell slightly.
Construction and leisure and hospitality payrolls rose for a second month after harsh winter weather likely disrupted hiring in the first months of the year. Economists have pointed to the data-center buildout as a possible driver of demand for construction labor this year, even as homebuilding continues to be restrained by elevated interest rates.
At the same time, Big Tech companies like Meta Platforms Inc. and Microsoft Corp. are reducing headcount, in part to offset heavy spending on artificial intelligence. Employment in the information sector fell for a 16th straight month in April, according to the report.
Different Surveys
The jobs report comprises two surveys, one of businesses and government agencies — which produces the payrolls figures — and another of households, which is the source of the unemployment rate. The household survey also has its own measure of employment, which fell for a fourth month.
Another data point from the household survey, the participation rate — the share of the population that is working or looking for work — fell to 61.8% in April, the lowest since October 2021. And a broader measure of unemployment, which includes people working part-time for economic reasons and discouraged job-seekers, rose to 8.2%, the highest this year.
Economists are paying close attention to how labor supply and demand dynamics are impacting wage growth — especially with renewed inflation posing a new threat to household incomes and consumer spending.
The report showed average hourly earnings rose 0.2% from March and 3.6% from a year earlier. Average weekly hours worked also increased, bolstering take-home pay.
Other labor-market data this week mostly pointed to stabilization. Continuing filings for unemployment insurance remained low, while announced job cuts were also running below 2025 levels in the year to date. ADP Research data indicated April was the best month for hiring in over a year, and a BLS measure of job openings was little changed in March.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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