U.S. Adds 115,000 Jobs in April; Unemployment Holds at 4.3%
By Christopher Cicchiello | Quincy News Correspondent
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Washington (Quincy News) — The U.S. added 115,000 jobs in April, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on Friday, more than doubling economists’ predictions.
Unemployment remained static at 4.3%, showing a slight increase from April 2025, when the rate stood at 4.2%. However, the number of people that have been jobless for less than five weeks increased by 358,000, totaling 2.5 million people.
Economists were quick to point out that this latest report ends what had been a month-to-month “yo-yo effect.” Starting in June 2025, each month saw either a dramatic fall in jobs or a major upswing, causing alarm about the unsteady state of the job market. The April 2026 report marks the first back-to-back monthly job growth in that period.
Most gains were within healthcare, transportation, warehousing and retail trade. The healthcare sector added 37,000 jobs in April and while transportation added 30,000, the BLS added that jobs in this industry have been down 105,000 since reaching an overall peak in February 2025.
Notably, federal government employment continued to trend downward. Since a high in February 2024, jobs in the federal government are down 11.5%, or 348,000 jobs.
Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, highlighted the latest BLS data as proof that America is in a “golden age.”
“These are two months of absolutely blockbuster numbers,” Hassett told Fox News on Friday.
Professor David Mitchell, director of the Bureau of Economic Research at Missouri State University, told Quincy News that the groundswell of excitement around the report is “bothersome” because consecutive months of job growth should be “normal.”
“The fact that the job market is acting in a quasi-normal way is — and I don’t like to use the word ‘scary’ — but it’s hardly something to be popping champagne about. I think you need a few more months before you can say, ‘Okay maybe we actually did turn a corner here,’” Mitchell said.
The jobs report comes amid ongoing economic concern, as prices at the pump reach an average of $4.55 per gallon and the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz adds strain on supply chains, giving birth to a new acronym among traders and analysts: Not A Chance Hormuz Opens (NACHO).
The latest jobs report buoyed markets Friday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closing higher and the Dow Jones Industrial Average finishing little changed
The BLS reported that February’s numbers were revised down for a second time, originally starting at minus 92,000 to minus 133,000, and now adjusted to negative 156,000. With March’s figures adjusted up by 7,000 jobs, employment for February and March is a combined 16,000 jobs lower than previously reported.
Mitchell said that it’s important to see what revisions may come next month.
“Three months does not make a trend,” Mitchell said. “Four to five (months), then I would say things are probably trending back to what they probably should be.”
The jobs report arrives days before Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s term ends on May 15. President Donald Trump has been critical of Powell for his reluctance to lower interest rates, and in an unorthodox move, Powell has said he will remain on the reserve’s Board of Governors for a brief time.
His successor is expected to be Trump’s pick, Kevin Warsh, who now awaits Senate approval as soon as next week. Mitchell told Quincy News that he does not expect Warsh will have any easy time changing the Fed’s current posture on keeping interest rates stable.
“I think they’re trying to send him (Warsh) a signal that says ‘Hey, we’re not just going to do whatever it is that your bidding is,”’ Mitchell said. “So he might have a harder time getting rates cut than he thinks.”
The rate outlook is particularly relevant as the Department of the Treasury ramps up borrowing to finance government operations. The Treasury said this week it plans to borrow $671 billion in the third quarter of 2026 and revised its second-quarter estimate up to $189 billion from $109 billion.
In its quarterly refunding announcement, Treasury said it will offer $125 billion in securities beginning May 11 through midweek auctions. The department also projected a cash balance of $900 billion at the end of June, and outlined plans for up to $38 billion in buybacks.
In its latest review, the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee pointed to shifting fiscal dynamics, including a surge in tariff revenue, up 272% ($128 billion), alongside continued growth in Medicare and Medicaid spending, which rose $59 billion. Those increases largely offset $84 billion in savings from cuts to agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Department of Education.
The next BLS jobs report is scheduled for Friday, June 5.
Quincy News correspondent Tom LoBianco contributed to this report.
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