The April jobs report showed the US labor market remained resilient in the weeks after President Trump’s “Liberation Day” reciprocal tariff announcements shook markets.
The US economy added 177,000 nonfarm payrolls in April, more than the 138,000 expected by economists. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.2%.
Average hourly earnings in April rose 0.2% over last month and 3.8% over the prior year. Economists expected wages to rise 0.3% over last month and 3.9% over the prior year.
US stocks traded higher following the report, the latest sigh of relief from investors that the worst-case economic scenarios from Trump’s sweeping tariff plans may be avoided. Data from the CME Group showed the Federal Reserve remains unlikely to cut interest rates at its next policy meeting, with this jobs reading taking pressure off the central bank to support a deterioration in the economic outlook.
Read more: The latest news and updates on Trump’s tariffs
By industry, Friday’s report showed a notable jump in hiring in the transportation and warehousing sector, which saw 29,000 jobs created, up from a more modest 2,700 in March.
Federal government employment, which has been closely watched given the Trump administration’s DOGE initiatives, fell by 9,000. Total government employment, which includes state and local hiring, rose by 10,000 last month.
The healthcare industry added 51,000 jobs last month, continuing a stretch as a reliable growth industry. Transportation and warehousing added 29,000 jobs, while leisure and hospitality added 24,000.
Job gains in March were revised down on Friday to show the US economy added 185,000 jobs. That report initially suggested job gains tallied 228,000 last month. Over the past year, monthly job gains have averaged 152,000.
Friday’s report is the most notable piece of economic data released since President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement on April 2. But Samuel Tombs, chief US economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, argued in a note Friday that the report “provides a snapshot of labor demand in the run-up to the April 2 tariff announcements, rather than an early assessment of their impact.”
“People count towards payrolls as long as they did any work in their employer’s pay period which includes the 12th of the month,” Tombs added.
“Nearly three-quarters of employees are paid either biweekly, semimonthly or monthly, so they would still count on April payrolls even if employers moved quickly to cut jobs after the April 2 tariff announcements. What’s more, we already know from the low level of initial jobless claims in recent weeks that employers have not rushed to fire staff.”
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