About 177,000 payroll jobs were added to the U.S. economy in April, while the unemployment rate remained flat at 4.2%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Looking at the various industries and verticals, employment continued to trend up in health care, transportation and warehousing, financial activities and social assistance, while federal government employment declined.
The unemployment rate has remained in a narrow range of 4.0% to 4.2% since May 2024, the BLS notes.
The number of unemployed people, at 7.2 million, changed little in April. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) increased by 179,000 to 1.7 million.
The long-term unemployed accounted for 23.5% of all unemployed people.
Both the labor force participation rate, at 62.6%, and the employment-population ratio, at 60.0%, changed little in April. These measures have shown little change over the year.
In April, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 6 cents, or 0.2%, to $36.06.
Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.8%.
In April, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees rose by 10 cents, or 0.3%, to $31.06.
“In April, a total of 177,000 payroll jobs were added to the economy, with average weekly earnings of $1,237,” says Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, in a statement. “Income growth is outpacing consumer price inflation. Regardless of what may be happening on Wall Street, where half of the stock market valuations are held by the top 1% of the population, Main Street America continues to move forward. Homeowners across the country are also faring well as housing equity continues to reach new record highs.”
“The manufacturing sector, however, stalled in the latest month with no net job additions,” Yun says. “The retail sector reduced staffing levels. The federal government continues to be affected by DOGE, with a further 9,000 job reductions. As in recent months, overall government employment rose as local governments added 13,000 jobs in the education sector.”
“Jobs were also created in construction, professional business services, and health care sectors,” Yun adds. “Moreover, the overall job gains indicate increased occupancy demand for apartment and commercial buildings. Therefore, nearly 10,000 jobs were added to the real estate sector, primarily related to rental and leasing activity. The economy is progressing despite all the trade and tariff disruptions.”
Photo: Marten Bjork