U.S. Employment Jumps By 177,000 Jobs In April, Much More Than Expected

(RTTNews) - Job growth in the U.S. far exceeded economist estimates in the month of April, according to a closely watched report released by the Labor Department on Friday.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment shot up by 177,000 jobs in April compared to expectations for an increase of about 130,000 jobs.

However, the jumps in employment in February and March were downwardly revised to 102,000 jobs and 185,000 jobs, respectively, reflecting a net downward revision of 58,000 jobs.

The stronger than expected job growth in April primarily reflected job gains in the healthcare and transportation and warehousing sectors, which added 51,000 jobs and 29,000 jobs, respectively.

The financial activities and social assistance sectors also saw modest job growth, while federal government employment dipped by 9,000 jobs. Employment showed little or no change in other major industries.

"In April, job gains were concentrated in just a few sectors, including health care and transportation and warehousing," Mortgage Bankers Association SVP and Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni. "We expect that transportation and warehousing jobs are at risk as the tariff effects kick in."

"Federal government employment decreased by 9,000 in April and is down 26,000 so far this year," he added. "Given the plans for further reductions, it is likely that this category will also shrink in the months ahead."

The report also said the unemployment rate came in at 4.2 percent in April, unchanged from the previous month and in line with economist estimates.

The unemployment rate came in unchanged as the household survey measure of employment jumped by 436,000 persons, while the size of the labor force surged by 518,000 persons. The number of people not in the labor force plunged by 343,000.

The Labor Department also said average hourly employee earnings rose by 6 cents or 0.2 percent to $36.06 in April.

Average hourly employee earnings in April were up by 3.8 percent compared to the same month a year ago, unchanged from March.

"No signs of tariff stress in the labor market yet--strong hiring and stable wages," said Jamie Cox, Managing Partner for Harris Financial Group. "If you are going to embark on a trade war and your economy is consumption based, this is the leverage you want."