U.S. job growth was more than expected in April, government data showed on Friday, while the unemployment rate stayed flat.
As per the the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), April nonfarm payrolls edged up 115k, compared to a consensus estimate of 65k. The unemployment rate stayed at 4.3%.
The April jobs report comes at a time when market participants and watchers of monetary policy are more focused on inflation due to surging oil prices sparked by the ongoing Middle East conflict.
February and March numbers see revisions
Job gains in April were driven by the health care, transportation and warehousing, and retail trade sectors, while federal government employment continued to fall.
Health care added 37k jobs in April, just above the average monthly gain of over 32k in the last 12 months. Meanwhile, transportation and warehousing employment increased by 30k, while retail trade added 22k jobs. Federal government employment fell 9k in April.
The BLS also said total nonfarm payrolls for February were revised down to 156k from 133k, while that for March were revised up to 185k from 178k.
"A good news jobs report," Justin Wolfers, professor of public policy and economics at the University of Michigan, said on X.
"Revisions a bit negative: Feb revised down -23k, and March revised up +7k. Over the past 3 months we’re creating +48k jobs per month, which may just be OK," Wolfers added.
