The April jobs report came in with an unexpected surprise on it this morning. Instead of the 135,000 new jobs expected, the report shows 177,000 new jobs created in April. In spite of recession fears being discussed in various circles, economic experts were pleasantly surprised to see a strong report. Worries about tariffs have caused a downturn in the stock market, and there are more concerns on the horizon for May with rumors of empty shelves coming soon. Consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about the prices of much needed products, with egg prices still on the higher end due to the avian flu crisis and the discovery of how many favorite American products are made overseas. With all of that, however, the report itself had far more jobs added than expected, but it is coupled with less great news, such as the downward revision of the number of jobs added in March.
As stated above, 177,000 jobs were added in April. This morning, the Dow is set to open slightly higher than normal. Per its new normal, the stock market has fluctuated a great deal, but it has made marginal gains with the coming of the new report. Unemployment stayed the same at 4.2%. The number of jobs in the Trucking and Warehouse industries continued to trend upward in April. As usual, we’ll have more on that sector further down!
March's Job Opening and Turnover Survey
In March, the Job Opening and Turnover Survey shows drastic changes from previous reports from the last few months. With several reports (including January and February) showing no changes, March’s new job numbers were revised downward compared to February’s from 228,000 to 185,000. The number of job openings is still listed as 7.2 million. It also states that job openings are down 901,000 for the year so far, which is a number we are monitoring to see if it indicates further economic downturn. Quits (listed at 3.3 million) and layoffs and discharges (reported at 1.6 million) have been revised downward as well. While layoffs and discharges decreased in the Transportation and Warehousing sector, they increased in the federal government once again, with Musk’s DOGE cuts being blamed for March’s decrease of federal jobs by an additional 9,000. As stated above, the quit rate is at 3.3 million for the year so far. From month to month, the quit rate remains little changed at 2.1%.
April's Jobs Report
For the month of April, Non-farm payrolls grew by an unexpected number, with 177,000 added last month. This came as a surprise to economic experts, and it has given a small boost to the stock market this morning, which has been a pleasant change after months of ongoing fears of what Trump’s tariffs will do to the economy. While job growth was only expected to grow by 135,000 jobs, this new data has sent many reeling. Between mass layoffs and mass deportations and rampant inflation, this unexpected news has been a welcome bit to May’s economic news. It also comes with the news that unemployment has stopped increasing for this year. Since the tariffs began in the first week of April, the economy is struggling with how to handle the confusion. April’s report shows unemployment rate stayed the same at 4.2%. The labor force participation rate for April rose slightly to 62.6%.
Last month, the Healthcare industry, which has been steadily adding small numbers of jobs every month for over a year, added another 51,000 jobs. In Government, due to DOGE’s cuts, there was another decline of federal jobs by 9,000. Layoffs are continuing to take place daily, and the Trump administration has promised to continue these in nearly every department at the federal level. Social assistance employment slowed its rate of increases, but the number of jobs still went up by 8,000 jobs in April. Transportation and Warehousing industries leapt forward by another whopping 29,000 jobs. Warehousing made back some of their losses, gaining 10,000 jobs in April. Courier services and air transportation jobs increased by a combined 11,000. The remaining 8,000 new jobs are thought to be made up of truck drivers, but the industry remains cautious of any optimism at this time.
Conclusion
The April Jobs Report came out today with numbers that higher than expected numbers, and the March Survey was revised downward compared to February’s report. With the tariffs, inflation concerns, and rumors of empty shelves making the most headline news, April’s job report was met with limited enthusiasm from the market or economic experts. For another month, job creation continued, but unemployment stayed the same for April. Stay tuned to the LZ Blog and our Lionzone social media to follow the job market!
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Meaghan Goldberg covers recruitment and digital marketing for Lionzone. A Patterson, GA native, after graduating from both Valdosta State University and Middle Tennessee State University, Meaghan joined Lionzone in 2018 as a digital recruitment strategist before becoming the social media manager.
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