US Unemployment Rate Holds at 4.3% Amid Mixed Employment Data and Sector Shifts
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And while Zandi claims the war will hamstring the labor market, it’s not so clear if it will hit hiring. Bloomberg reported that forecasters expect the April jobs report on Friday to show an estimated 62,000 jobs added, with private-sector hiring expected to be even stronger, according to a survey of economists conducted by Bloomberg. That’s riding off the momentum of a better-than-expected March jobs report where employers added 178,000 jobs and the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.3%.
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BBC BusinessThe US economy created 115,000 jobs in April as businesses kept hiring despite the economic fallout from the US-Israel war in Iran.
New York Post BusinessHiring was surprisingly strong in April for the second month in a row, signaling the labor market may be withstanding pressures from higher energy costs amid the Iran war for now.
Financial TimesHiring exceeds Wall Street’s forecasts for second month in a row
Washington Times BusinessThe U.S. added 115,000 jobs in April, the government said in a report that far exceeded forecasts and marked the second straight month of large gains.
RealClearMarketsNonfarm payrolls rose by 115,000 in April, nearly double the consensus expectation of roughly 65,000. Private payrolls did even better, rising by 123,000 against expectations closer to 75,000. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.3 percent.
CNBCThe degree of stability, though, is in relative terms. Against muted expectations, job gains totaled 178,000 in March, the best month since December 2024. But that still left the 12-month average at just 22,000. Excluding health care, the economy has seen a net loss of jobs.
Epoch Times BusinessThe U.S. private sector added more jobs than expected last month, signaling renewed strength in the labor market as the economy wrestles with war-driven price pressures.
MarketWatchThe unemployment rate is low at 4.3% and likely to stay that way Are companies adding more workers after an unusually weak stretch of hiring? The jury is out, but signs of recovery in the labor market are emerging. Here’s what to watch in the April employment report.
ZeroHedgeWith non-farm payrolls looming, we get another glimpse at the labor market today from the ADP Employment Report which shows the US economy added 109k jobs in April (a slight disappointment relative to +120k exp). That is the tenth straight month of job additions and strongest monthly addition since January 2025...
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But there is one corner of the economy excluded from that: the office. The “information sector”—where the BLS counts tech, telecom, data processing, and media jobs—lost another 13,000 jobs in April, while finance shed 11,000. The monthly average this year has been about 9,000 jobs lost in information, and 12,000 in financial activities.
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CNBCOn the downside, information services lost 13,000, part of a continuing trend that has seen the sector down 342,000 jobs since November 2022 as artificial intelligence has hit the sector, according to the BLS. That has equated to a loss of 11% of jobs during the period.
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“Wages are being eaten up by inflation due to the war in Iran. This is a big shift from the past several years when wages were growing well above inflation,” Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, wrote on X. “Yes, workers have jobs, but this is a squeeze.”
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FortuneWages are also getting squeezed. The April jobs report shows average hourly earnings rose 3.6% over the year, while inflation is expected to come in around 4% for April once the Consumer Price Index lands next week, pushed higher by the war in Iran and gas prices that have crossed $4.55 a gallon.
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The Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.3%.
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BBC BusinessThe data, published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), also showed the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.3%.
CNBCThe unemployment rate held at 4.3%, further proof that the labor market has reached a point where only modest job creation is needed to keep the jobless level steady, given little growth in the labor force.
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"Together, these indicators suggest increasing labor market slack," Williams added, using a term synonymous with a softening labor market. "Although this dissonance in the hard and soft data may reflect the effects of a low-hire, low-fire labor market, it bears continued close monitoring for signs that conditions are shifting."
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BBC BusinessBut he pointed to "mixed signals" elsewhere in the report, including slow wage growth and an overall contraction in the jobs market, with fewer working-age people seeking employment.
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"All that being said, this was ultimately a positive employment report that reinforces the view that the labour market is stable and potentially even accelerating," he said.
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CNBCThe picture in total is one of a labor market that, while undoubtedly cooling, is generally stable and resilient despite a number of challenges.
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The unemployment rate remained steady at 4.3%. Revisions to the previous two months lowered total job growth by 16,000 jobs. Job growth in March was revised upward to 185,000. February’s losses increased to 156,000.
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FortuneHiring was better than the 65,000 forecasters had expected, though it decelerated from the 185,000 jobs created in March. The unemployment rate remained at a low 4.3%.
CNBCRevisions from prior reports were mixed: The March count rose by 7,000 while the February number moved even lower, down by 23,000 to a loss of 156,000. The initial report put the February job loss at 92,000. This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates.
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Independent claims that didn't surface elsewhere in our corpus. Treat as supplementary — not corroborated across outlets.
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01 RealClearMarkets The April jobs report delivered another reminder that the American economy is stronger than the professional pessimists, Wall Street forecasters, and Washington spreadsheet jockeys keep insisting.
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02 Fortune After a 2025 where monthly job growth averaged an anemic 10,000, the 2026 average is now 76,000—enough of an improvement that economists are starting to ask whether the “hiring recession” of the past two years is finally ending.
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03 BBC Business The latest figures come after months of big fluctuations in job numbers. Non-farm payrolls fell by 156,000 in February before rising by 185,000 in March.
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04 CNBC Average hourly earnings, another closely watched metric of labor market health, came in lower than expected, increasing 0.2% for the month and 3.6% on an annual basis, compared to respective estimates for 0.3% and 3.8%.
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05 New York Post Business But results from month-to-month have been especially volatile, meaning the last three months have averaged just 48,000 jobs – what is usually considered an anemic pace of job growth.
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06 Washington Times Business “In April, job gains occurred in health care, transportation and warehousing, and retail trade. Federal government employment continued to decline,” the BLS said in its summary.
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07 Epoch Times Business The U.S. labor market could be showing signs of heating up after the economy topped economists’ expectations.
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08 ZeroHedge "Small and large employers are hiring, but we're seeing softness in the middle,"said Dr. Nela Richardson Chief Economist, ADP.
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09 MarketWatch Economic Report ADP says businesses create the most new jobs in 15 months. Labor market might be thawing.
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