Weaker Than Expected: U.S. Hiring Slows With Economy Adding 175,000 Jobs in April and Unemployment Rose to 3.9%John Carney 3 May 2024
Employers in the United States added 175,000 workers to their payrolls in April, the Department of Labor said Friday.
The unemployment rate ticked up to 3.9 percent from 3.8 percent in the prior month.
Economists had forecast payrolls would grow by 240,000 and the unemployment rate would hold steady at the prior month’s 3.8 percent. The low end of the range of forecasts in the Econoday survey was 190,000 and the high end was 303,000.
The weaker-than-expected figure may revive hopes for rate cuts this year. Stock futures moved higher when the jobs report was released. Futures markets suggested an earlier start to rate cuts from the Fed than they had earlier this week.
Last month, the government said the economy added 303,000 jobs. That was revised up in the latest report, to 315,000. The February estimate was revised down last month by 5,000 to 270,000. It was revised down again to 236,000. After the revisions, employment in February and March combined was 22,000 lower than previously reported.
Wage gains moderated. Overall hourly wages rose 0.2 percent, less than the 0.3 percent estimated and lower than the 0.3 percent recorded in March.
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https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2024/05/03/weaker-than-expected-u-s-economy-added-175000-jobs-in-april/
