US employers added 115,000 jobs in April and the unemployment rate remained steady at 4.3%, a surprisingly robust gain to the labor market as the US-Israel war with Iran continued to drive up economic uncertainty.
Economists projected about 55,000 new jobs and a 4.3% unemployment rate. A day earlier, the labor department announced 200,000 people filed for weekly unemployment benefits, a slight increase from the week before.
Jobs gains were concentrated in healthcare, transportation and warehousing, retail and social assistance. Altogether, 106,000 new jobs were added to those four industries.
Meanwhile, job losses were seen in federal government employment – which is down 348,000 since November 2024 – and the information sector.
A series of major changes over the last year – tariffs, government layoffs, changing immigration policies and, now, rising oil prices amid conflict in the Middle East – have rattled the US economy and destabilized the labor market.
The new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics also included revisions to previous job figures. Last month, employers added 185,000 jobs, far exceeding economists’ expectations of about 70,000. But in February, the US lost 156,000 jobs – initially reported as a drop of 92,000 jobs – an unexpected and major contraction just before the US-Israel war in Iran.
Private employers added 109,000 jobs in April, the largest increase in job growth since January 2025, according to payroll firm ADP. Healthcare industry jobs continued to fuel growth, along with modest increases in construction, trade, transportation and utilities industries. Professional industries, however, lost 8,000 jobs.
“Small and large employers are hiring, but we’re seeing softness in the middle,” Dr Nela Richardson, ADP’s chief economist, said in a statement. “Large companies have resources to deploy, and small ones are the most nimble, both important advantages in a complex labor environment.”
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In its decision late last month to keep rates steady, the US Federal Reserve cited slow job growth among several factors, including elevated inflation and continued uncertainty in the Middle East.
Ahead of the job report’s release, Jake Krimmel, a senior economist at Realtor.com, said that the forecasts of 55,000 to 70,000 new jobs added would be enough to keep the labor market steady and potentially hold off rate hikes from the Fed, which would push mortgage rates even higher.
“Whether workers are seeing real income gains or losses this spring is crucial for housing affordability, especially as home prices soften but mortgage rates push higher,” he said in a statement.
