By Lucia Mutikani
WASHINGTON, May 8 (Reuters) – U.S. employment increased more than expected in April, pointing to continued labor market stability and reinforcing expectations that the Federal Reserve would leave interest rates unchanged for some time while monitoring the economic fallout from the war with Iran.
But the closely watched employment report from the Labor Department on Friday also showed some strains in the labor market. More people worked part-time for economic reasons last month, with the number jumping by 445,000 to 4.9 million.
Household employment declined, but was partly offset by dropouts from the labor force, keeping the unemployment rate unchanged at 4.3% after rounding.
“The economy is still creating jobs, and there is no evidence of a labor-market collapse,” said Sung Won Sohn, a finance and economics professor at Loyola Marymount University.
“But the increase in unemployed workers, the decline in the labor force and the heavy dependence on healthcare-related hiring all point to a labor market that is gradually losing strength. The Fed will probably read this report as a reason to wait, not a reason to cut.”
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 115,000 jobs last month after an upwardly revised 185,000 advance in March, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls rising by 62,000 jobs after a previously reported 178,000 rebound in March.
Estimates ranged from a loss of 15,000 jobs to a gain of 150,000 positions. Wages increased 3.6% in the 12 months through April after gaining 3.4% in March.
The labor market stumbled last year, with economists blaming uncertainty wrought by President Donald Trump’s trade policy. Trump’s sweeping tariffs early this year were struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court. The U.S. Court of International Trade ruled on Thursday that a replacement of those duties was unjustified. The administration’s immigration policy has also undercut the labor market by reducing labor supply.
Economists said it was too early for the effects of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran to show. The conflict has raised gasoline and diesel prices as well as the cost of other commodities that are shipped through the Strait of Hormuz.
HEALTHCARE IS DOMINATING EMPLOYMENT GAINS
Payrolls appeared to be settling down after being volatile since mid-2025. Economists have attributed the swings to an adjustment to the birth-and-death model, which the government uses to estimate how many jobs were gained or lost because of companies opening or closing in a given month. Some said a large turnover in firms created was making it hard for the BLS to estimate job creation associated with new companies.
Weather, strikes and government job cuts as well as big changes to the labor force as the Trump administration cracks down on illegal immigration have also added to volatility, they said. Economists recommended looking at the three-month moving average of payrolls.
Job growth averaged 48,000 per month over the past three months. The healthcare sector again led the increase in payrolls in April, adding 37,000 jobs, mostly at nursing and residential care facilities as well as home healthcare services, reflecting an aging population.
Transportation and warehousing employment increased by 30,000, boosted by demand for couriers and messengers. Still, employment in the sector was down by 105,000 since peaking in February 2025. Retail payrolls rose by 22,000 jobs while the social assistance sector added 17,000 positions.
But the federal government shed another 9,000 positions and employment is down by 348,000, or 11.5%, since hitting a peak in October 2024. The White House last year launched an unprecedented campaign to slash the federal workforce as it seeks to remake the government. But there has recently been a push in some agencies to rebuild staff levels.
There were job losses in the information, manufacturing and financial activities industries. The share of industries reporting job growth fell to 53.8% from 56.8% in March.
U.S. interest rate futures scaled back expectations for a rate hike by year-end and increased bets the U.S. central bank would stay on hold after the data. The Fed last week left its benchmark overnight interest rate in the 3.50%-3.75% range, citing inflation worries.
U.S. stocks opened higher. The dollar was little changed against a basket of currencies. U.S. Treasury yields fell.
Details of the household survey from which the unemployment rate is calculated were weak. Household employment dropped by 226,000 jobs while 92,000 people dropped out of the labor force. The labor force participation rate fell to 61.8% from 61.9% in March. The number of people unemployed for less than five weeks increased by 358,000 to 2.496 million.
Lower immigration and an aging population meant the economy needed to create between zero and 50,000 jobs per month to keep up with growth in the working-age population, economists estimated. With the so-called breakeven level of job growth much lower than in prior years, they did not expect a surge in the unemployment rate, even if employment gains slowed considerably.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Andrea Ricci)
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