The U.S. economy added 175,000 jobs in April according to the latest employment situation report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Friday morning, the smallest job gain in some six months and significantly below Wall Street estimates for the month.
It was expected that April would bring 240,000 to 250,000 new jobs, and the unemployment rate would remain at 3.8 percent. Instead, April was a big miss, and unemployment ticked up to 3.9 percent.
Here's how CNBC processed the news:
🚨 APRIL JOBS REPORT: "MUCH LESS THAN EXPECTED" pic.twitter.com/e2ogNCNF0O
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) May 3, 2024
The labor force participation rate remained at 62.7 percent in April and the average workweek slipped down to 34.3 hours while average hourly wages rose 0.2 percent for a 12-month increase of 3.9 percent.
Comparing wage growth with inflation, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed core inflation was still running at an annualized 3.8 percent in March, meaning Americans' wages are barely keeping up with still-rising costs.
As has become the norm, April's jobs print revised down the previous two months' reported job gains by 22,000.
Payroll employment increases by 175,000 in April; unemployment rate changes little at 3.9% https://t.co/ZwrVfLviqL #JobsReport #BLSdata
— BLS-Labor Statistics (@BLS_gov) May 3, 2024
The miss on April's jobs is yet another indicator that the economy is slowing even while inflation continues to surge in the wrong direction. As Townhall reported at the end of April, the first advance estimate for first quarter GDP was a mess of a report showing inflation surging faster than expected and economic growth slowing more than projected.
"Today's jobs report confirms the economy is reentering stagflation," said Alfredo Ortiz, CEO of Job Creators Network, of Friday's report. "Only 175,000 jobs were created last month, well below the recent average and expectations," he emphasized. "More than half of new jobs were created in the unproductive government and quasi-government healthcare and social services sectors that don't provide growth," explained Ortiz. "Combined with slow economic growth and resurgent inflation, these jobs numbers suggest stagflation has returned."