April US Jobs Report: 175,000 Rise in Payrolls, Smaller Than Expected

The US economy added 175,000 jobs in April, according to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The government’s report Friday revised up previous estimates for new job creation in March and revised down previous estimates for February.

The unemployment rate edged up to 3.9% in April from 3.8% in March.

Analysts had predicted nonfarm payrolls—one of the primary measures of job growth in the US—to show an increase of 233,000 in the April report. The unemployment rate had been forecast to hold steady at 3.8%

April Jobs Report Key Stats

• Total nonfarm payrolls climbed by 175,000 versus an upward revised 315,000 in March.
• The unemployment rate ticked up to 3.9% from 3.8% in March.
• Average hourly wages rose by 0.2% to $34.75 after rising 0.3% in March.

In April, average hourly wages grew by 7 cents, or 0.2%, to $34.75. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have risen by 3.9%.

The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls dropped to 34.3 hours in April, down from 34.4 in March. For manufacturing employees, the average workweek dropped to 39.9 hours in April, and overtime was unchanged at 2.9 hours. For production and nonsupervisory employees, the average workweek remained at 33.6 hours.

This article was partially generated by Wordsmith, an automated smart-text platform, using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The article has been reviewed by Morningstar editors.