The U.S. economy maintained its steady job creation pace in April, with employers adding 177,000 nonfarm payroll positions while the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.2 percent, according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics report released Friday.
The April job gains exceeded the average monthly growth of 152,000 over the previous year, signaling continued resilience in the labor market despite ongoing economic challenges.
Health care led employment gains with 51,000 new positions, consistent with the sector’s 12-month average increase of 52,000 jobs. Hospitals added 22,000 jobs while ambulatory health care services grew by 21,000 positions.
Transportation and warehousing expanded by 29,000 jobs after minimal growth in March. Notable gains occurred in warehousing and storage (10,000), courier and messenger services (8,000), and air transportation (3,000).
Financial activities continued its recovery with 14,000 new positions in April, marking a total increase of 103,000 jobs since hitting an employment trough in April 2024.
Social assistance employers added 8,000 jobs, a significantly slower pace than the previous 12-month average of 20,000 positions per month.
The federal government sector showed continued contraction, shedding 9,000 jobs in April and posting a total decline of 26,000 positions since January 2025.
Several key industries showed minimal employment change, including construction, manufacturing, retail trade, and leisure and hospitality.
For employers monitoring compensation trends, average hourly earnings rose 0.2 percent to $36.06 in April, representing a 3.8 percent increase over the past year. Production and nonsupervisory employees saw slightly stronger wage growth at 0.3 percent, bringing their average hourly earnings to $31.06.
The average workweek held steady at 34.3 hours, while manufacturing hours decreased slightly to 40.0 hours per week.
In what may signal some cooling in the job market, previous employment gains were revised downward, with February’s increase adjusted from 117,000 to 102,000 and March’s from 228,000 to 185,000. These revisions mean employment for February and March combined is 58,000 lower than initially reported.
Adding to potential labor market concerns, long-term unemployment increased by 179,000 to 1.7 million in April, with those unemployed for 27 weeks or longer now accounting for 23.5 percent of all jobless Americans.
Labor force participation remained essentially unchanged at 62.6 percent, as did the employment-population ratio at 60.0 percent, both measures showing little movement over the past year.
The next employment situation report is scheduled for release on June 6.
