U.S. Employers Add 115,000 Jobs in April

U.S. employers added 115,000 jobs in April, nearly twice the 65,000 that forecasters had expected and the second straight month of stronger-than-expected hiring despite the economic shock from the Iran war. The unemployment rate remained at 4.3 percent, in line with expectations.

Revisions to prior months lowered February and March totals by a combined 16,000 jobs, resulting in an average monthly gain of 48,000 over the past three months. The figures come after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz in late February following U.S. and Israeli strikes, triggering the largest disruption to global oil supplies in history.

Average U.S. gasoline prices surged past $4.50 a gallon this week, yet the conflict has not yet produced measurable damage in the American job market.

Healthcare added 37,000 jobs last month while retailers gained 22,000 and transportation and warehousing added 30,000. These increases helped offset losses elsewhere, including a decline of 2,000 manufacturing jobs. Manufacturers have cut 66,000 positions over the past year despite President Donald Trump’s protectionist policies aimed at reviving factory employment.

Federal government employment fell by another 9,000 jobs in April and is down 348,000, or 11.5 percent, since its peak in October 2024. The information sector shed 13,000 jobs while the number of people working part-time for economic reasons jumped by 445,000 to 4.9 million.

Average hourly earnings rose 0.2 percent from March and 3.6 percent from a year earlier, reaching $37.41.

Boomer retirements and Trump’s immigration crackdown have reduced the number of people competing for work, lowering the so-called break-even job growth rate needed to hold the unemployment rate steady to near zero. The labor force shrank in April as the number of unemployed workers rose.