US Labor Market Cools Off After Less-Than-Expected 175,000 New Jobs

The U.S. labor market showed further signs of cooling down after the economy added a smaller-than-expected 175,000 new jobs last month, down from 315,000 in March, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The market had penciled in a reading of 243,000 positions.

In April, the unemployment rate shot up to 3.9 percent, up from 3.8 percent and slightly higher than the consensus estimate of 3.8 percent.

Average hourly earnings rose at a smaller-than-expected pace of 0.2 percent, down from 0.3 percent. On a year-over-year basis, average hourly earnings decelerated to 3.9 percent, falling short of the market forecast of 4 percent.

The labor force participation rate was unchanged at 62.7 percent, while average weekly hours dipped from 34.4 to 34.3.

Health care led the employment gains last month, with 56,000 new jobs. This was followed by social assistance (31,000), transportation and warehousing (22,000), and retail (20,000).

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