U.S. Job Growth Falls Short in April, Unemployment Rate Rises to 3.9%

Confidence UbaniMay 4, 20241 Mins read393

The United States’ job growth for April fell below expectations, with the economy adding only 175,000 jobs. This figure is well below the estimated 240,000, according to the Labour Department’s Bureau of Labour Statistics. Concurrently, the unemployment rate rose to 3.9%, slightly above the anticipated 3.8%

Sluggish job growth and the rise in unemployment rate have sparked speculation that the Federal Reserve may soon consider cutting interest rates, CNBC reports. Average hourly earnings rose by only 0.2% from the previous month and 3.9% from a year ago, indicating subdued inflationary pressures.

Key sectors contributing to job creation included health care, social assistance, transportation and warehousing, and retail. However, the government sector saw a modest gain of just 8,000 positions compared to previous months’ solid increases.

Despite revisions to previous months’ figures, which saw March gains revised upward to 315,000 and February’s figures adjusted to 236,000, the overall trend points to a decrease in job growth. Household employment, a metric used to calculate the unemployment rate, increased by merely 25,000.

This suggests a softening labour market and subdued wage growth and has prompted traders to anticipate potential interest rate cuts by the end of 2024. Following the release of the job report, however, financial markets responded positively as futures tied to major stock market indices recorded some gains.

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