"Total nonfarm payroll employment edged up by 115,000 in April, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.3 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred in health care, transportation and warehousing, and retail trade. Federal government employment continued to decline."
"The breadth of job creation has improved in 2026; it is still healthcare-heavy, but in this report, we saw a few job sectors show growth, as shown in the chart below. Which now makes back-to-back months we have seen this, and, in fact, all three months that were positive in 2026 have had better breadth than before."
"Labor force growth ticked down a smidge in this report, and despite all the hype earlier this year that AI was going to take all the jobs, the unemployment rate is at 4.3%. I did a preview of the jobs report in today's episode of the HousingWire Daily podcast, where I discuss my long-term theory about why we don't need to worry about massive unemployment."
"Year-to-date job creation is slightly below my break-even number for keeping the unemployment rate from rising. Population growth is slowing; my break-even point is at 78,000 jobs per month and year-to-date job creation is 76,000. The Federal Reserve has a much lower break-even rate with population growth slowing."
Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 115,000 in April. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.3 percent. Job gains occurred in health care, transportation and warehousing, and retail trade. Federal government employment continued to decline. Job creation breadth improved in 2026, with more sectors showing growth while remaining healthcare-heavy. Labor force growth ticked down slightly. Despite earlier concerns about AI eliminating jobs, unemployment stayed at 4.3 percent. Jobless claims were not trending toward 323,000 on a 4-week average, and residential construction employment was not breaking down. Labor market conditions were described as stabilized, with job creation higher than a year earlier but year-to-date job creation slightly below a break-even level tied to unemployment stability.
Read at www.housingwire.com
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