US Adds 115,000 Jobs in April, Beating Expectations Again

New data shows that the U.S. labor market may be on less shaky footing than Wall Street feared, with hiring coming in stronger than anticipated in April.

According to the latest employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the U.S. economy added 115,000 jobs last month, with growth in health care, transportation and warehousing, and retail trade driving the unexpected increase.

This far exceeds consensus forecasts prior to the release-analysts had penciled in a 62,000-job gain-but marks a drop from the 185,000 jobs added in March, which was upwardly revised on Friday.

March's originally reported total of 178,000 also comfortably beat forecasts, coming in nearly triple the 60,000 that analysts anticipated despite concerns that the war in Iran and longer-term headwinds would weigh on employers' appetite to hire during the month.

Additionally, the report revealed that the U.S. unemployment rate held steady at 4.3 percent in April, in line with expectations.

Unemployment was at four percent when Donald Trump returned to office last January, and has been trending up since hitting a post-COVID low of 3.4 percent in April 2023.

According to the BLS, gains were again concentrated in a handful of sectors in April.

Health care-which has been viewed as one of the country's few engines of job creation-added 37,000 roles last month.

Transportation and warehousing saw a 30,000 increase in April-though employment is down 105,000 compared to last February's peak-while retail trade added 22,000 jobs.

Federal government employment, meanwhile, shed 9,000 jobs in April for a total decline of 348,000 since October 2024. This is primarily due to the Trump administration's aggressive efforts to cut government roles through mass layoffs, buyouts and hiring freezes during the early phase of his second term-a process overseen by the now-disbanded Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Analysts have lauded the better-than-expected data as supporting the idea that the labor market may be in better shape than previously believed-given employment growth came to an effective standstill toward the end of 2025.

"Today's report came in above expectations and reinforces a labor market that continues to show resilience at the headline level," said Ger Doyle, Regional President for North America at ManpowerGroup, in a note shared with Newsweek following the latest release.

"The next phase for the labor market will depend on whether hiring broadens beyond a narrow range of roles and creates more viable entry points for workers," he added. "That would be the clearest sign that labor market stability is translating into broader opportunity rather than being confined to a limited group of roles."

This is a developing story. Updates to follow.

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This story was originally published May 8, 2026 at 7:44 AM.