finance
U.S. Economy Added 115,000 Jobs in April, Below Historical Norms
April nonfarm payroll gains nearly doubled expectations while the unemployment rate held at 4.3 percent. The data reinforced the Federal Reserve's decision to keep its benchmark rate unchanged last week as officials shift focus toward persistent inflation above the 2 percent target.
May 8, 5:44 PM·2m read3 sources
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U.S. economy added 115,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in April 2026, nearly doubling economist expectations of 62,000. 3 percent, unchanged from the prior month and in line with forecasts.
March 2026 nonfarm payroll job gains were revised upward to 185,000 from an originally reported 178,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The stronger-than-expected April figure arrived one day after markets had already begun pricing in a more patient Federal Reserve. 75 percent at its meeting in the week of April 28-May 2, 2026.
Three regional Federal Reserve presidents voted against the post-meeting statement, objecting to language seen as signaling a possible future rate cut. Austan Goolsbee, president of the Chicago Fed, does not get a vote on the FOMC in 2026 but will in 2027. "We've been above the 2% fed target for five years now.
We stopped making progress last year, and now the last three months, it's going up instead of down," Goolsbee said. 3 percent, well above the Fed's 2 percent goal. Goolsbee added that he has "never been that big of a fan of trying to use words to jawbone policy decisions" and warned that inflation pressures are broadening beyond gasoline and tariffs into services costs.
Lindsay Rosner, head of multisector fixed income at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, said the labor market now appears back on track. "The Fed will shift its focus to containing upside inflation risks now that the labor market appears back on track," Rosner stated.
Scott Clemons, chief investment strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman, said the latest readings reinforce patience at the central bank.
"This makes it more and more clear that the Fed can have all the patience in the world," Clemons said. Traders have removed any probability of a rate cut through April 2031 according to fed funds futures pricing as of May 8, 2026. 7 trillion.
Kevin Warsh, a former Fed governor, is expected to be confirmed by the Senate and take over as Federal Reserve Chair later in May 2026. Warsh testified during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on his nomination on Capitol Hill in Washington on April 21, 2026.
