BLS: US Added 177K Jobs in April, Jobless Rate Steady at 4.2%


   
Maria Eugenia Garcia
DTN Energy Editor

   HOUSTON, TX (DTN) -- The Bureau of Labor Statistics this morning reported 
total non-farm payroll employment rose by 177,000 in April, compared to 185,000 
reported in February. The figure was above market expectations of an increase 
of 133,000.

   The data show the unemployment rate at 4.2%, unchanged from March. The 
number of unemployed was 7.2 million, slightly up from the previous month. The 
unemployment rate has remained in a narrow range of 4.0% to 4.2% since May 2024.

   Health care, transportation and warehousing, financial activities, and 
social assistance were the main drivers of employment growth in April.

   BLS reported the change in total non-farm payroll employment for February 
was revised down by 15,000 to 102,000, and the change for March was revised 
down by 43,000 to 185,000. With these revisions, employment in February and 
March combined is 58,000 lower than previously reported.

   In April, average hourly earnings increased by 6 cents or 0.2% from March to 
$36.00 for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls,

   The average workweek in April for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls 
was unchanged at 34.3 hours from the previous month. Meanwhile, average hourly 
earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees rose by 10 
cents, or 0.3 %, to $31.06, in the same reference period.

   In response to the data, the U.S. dollar dropped by 0.804 points to 99.250 
while the front-month NYMEX West Texas Intermediate futures fell by $0.51 to 
$58.73 bbl.

    




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