Job growth in America was stronger than expected in April. Nonfarm payrolls increased a seasonally adjusted 177,000 for the month, roughly in line with the increase of 185,000 in March and significantly above the April Dow Jones estimate for 133,000, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. The U.S. unemployment rate held steady at 4.2%.
In the U.S., “full employment” is typically associated with an unemployment rate around 4% to 5%. Economists often cite this range as the Non-Accelerating Inflation Rate of Unemployment (NAIRU), where the labor market is considered to be at equilibrium—meaning most people who want jobs can find them, with only frictional and structural unemployment remaining. The exact figure can vary depending on economic conditions, but 4.5% is a commonly referenced midpoint.
The survey of households, which is used to calculate the jobless rate, showed an even stronger gain, with an increase of 436,000 in those who reported holding jobs on the month… The labor force participation rate edged higher to 62.6%.
Health care continued to be a leader in job creation, adding 51,000 jobs. Other sectors posting gains included transportation and warehousing (29,000), financial activities (14,000) and social assistance.
The federal government reported a loss of 9,000 jobs on the month amid Trump’s efforts, led by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency, to trim payrolls in the public sector. Federal government jobs have declined by just 26,000 since January, as employees furloughed but still receiving severance are not counted as unemployed, according to the BLS…
The report comes just ahead of next week’s Federal Reserve policy meeting. Markets widely expect the Fed to hold its benchmark short-term borrowing rate steady at the meeting, though they are pricing in a quarter percentage point cut in June with two or three more to follow by the end of the year.
MacDailyNews Take: To cut through the, uh… noise: China is already faltering, repeatedly injecting economic subsidies into its moribund economy. China desperately needs access to the American consumer (as does every other country who’d like to make real money). This April jobs report further strengthens the U.S. hand in tariff negotiations with China (and every other country), accelerating the timeline to arrive at reciprocal trade deals which is very good news for companies like Apple with a huge manufacturing base in China.
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