US Nonfarm Payroll Increases by 175,000 in April; Unemployment Increases to 3.9%

On Friday, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 175,000 in April. This is below the average monthly gain of 242,000 over the prior 12 months.

Job growth occurred in the following sectors in April:

• Health care added 56,000 jobs, below the average of 63,000 over the prior 12-month period.
• Social assistance added 31,000 jobs, above the average of 21,000 per month over the prior 12-month period.
• Transportation and warehousing added 22,000 jobs. Over the prior 12 months, employment in transportation and warehousing had shown little net change.
• Employment in retail trade continued to trend higher, adding 20,000 jobs. Over the prior 12 months, the industry added an average of 7,000 jobs per month.
• Construction employment slowed, adding only 9,000 new positions following an increase of 40,000 in March. Over the prior 12 months, construction added an average of 22,000 jobs per month.
• Government employment increased by 8,000 jobs, well below the average of 55,000 jobs per month during the previous 12-month period.

In April, employment showed little change in other major industries, including mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; manufacturing; wholesale trade; information; financial activities; professional and business services; leisure and hospitality; and other services.

The unemployment rate increased to 3.9% from 3.8% in March. The number of unemployed people increased from 6.4 million in March to 6.5 million in April. The unemployment rate has been in a narrow range of 3.7–3.9% since August 2023.

Revisions

Monthly revisions result from additional reports received from businesses and government agencies since the last published estimate and from recalculations of seasonal factors. As a result, the change in total nonfarm payroll employment for February was revised down by 34,000—from +270,000 to +236,000—and the change for March was revised up by 12,000—from +303,000 to +315,000. With these revisions, employment in February and March combined is 22,000 lower than previously reported.