Hiring in the US remained solid last month, despite turmoil stemming from changes to trade policy.
Employers added 177,000 jobs in April, while the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.2%, the Labor Department said.
The gain was bigger than many analysts had expected in a month marked by chaos in financial markets and rising concerns about the economy tracked in surveys of businesses and households.
The resilience of the US jobs market over the last few years has surprised analysts, helping to sustain spending even as households faced rising prices and a sharp jump in interest rates.
The latest figures have raised some hopes that the country may be able to weather the uncertainty from tariff policy without suffering a painful economic downturn.
But analysts expressed caution, noting that the impact of the sweeping import taxes announced by Donald Trump would take more time to be fully felt.
Many firms have said they are moving cautiously for now, citing rapid changes in policy and hope that Trump’s promises of trade deals will bear fruit.
Hiring last month was led by healthcare, warehousing and transportation firms.
Employment declined in the federal government – where Trump has vowed to cut spending – but was offset by gains in local government.
Payrolls dropped at manufacturing and retail firms.
“The US labour market remained resilient in April with employment surprising to the upside and the unemployment rate remaining steady,” said Lindsay Rosner, head of multi-sector fixed income investing at Goldman Sachs Asset Management:
“With the forward-looking outlook having deteriorated, however, today’s data feels somewhat backward-looking.”
Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management, agreed that the economy is likely to weaken in the coming months, but said: “With this underlying momentum, the US has a decent chance of averting recession if it can step back from the tariff brink in time.”
