The U.S. economy added jobs in April at a slower pace than a month ago amid uncertainty over economic conditions as well as tax and trade policy.
The U.S. Department of Labor on Friday reported that employers added 177,000 jobs in April. That figure was above the estimate of economists polled by LSEG, though it was cooler than the 185,000 added in March — which was initially announced as a gain of 228,000.
The unemployment rate was 4.2%, unchanged from a month ago and in line with the LSEG estimate.
Job gains in the past two months were both revised, with job creation in February revised down by 15,000 from a gain of 117,000 to 102,000; and March job gains downwardly revised by 43,000 from a gain of 228,000 to 185,000. Taken together, employment in February and March was 58,000 lower than previously reported.
Private sector payrolls grew by 167,000 jobs in April, well above the 125,000 estimated by LSEG.
Government payrolls added 10,000 jobs in April across all levels of government. The decline of 9,000 jobs in the federal government was more than offset by gains of 6,000 in state government and 13,000 in local government. Workers on paid leave or receiving ongoing severance pay are counted as employed in the Bureau of Labor Statistics survey.
Manufacturing payrolls declined by 1,000 jobs in April, a smaller decrease than the 5,000 projected by LSEG economists.
Healthcare employment grew by 50,600 jobs in April, which was roughly in line with the average monthly gain of 52,000 over the last 12 months. That growth was driven by hospitals (+22,100) and ambulatory healthcare services (+21,400).