Swansenreport

April Jobs Report: Private Sector Doubles Expectations as Federal Workforce Keeps Shrinking

The U.S. economy added 115,000 jobs in April — nearly double what Wall Street economists had forecast — with private sector hiring driving the gains for a second straight month even as the federal government workforce continued its ongoing decline under DOGE-driven cuts.

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 115,000 in April, and the unemployment rate held steady at 4.3 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report released this morning. Job gains were concentrated in health care, transportation and warehousing, and retail trade. Federal government employment continued to decline. WEAR

Health care led all sectors with 37,000 new jobs, in line with its 12-month average gain of 32,000 per month. Nursing and residential care facilities accounted for 15,000 of those jobs. Retail trade added 22,000 positions, with gains in warehouse clubs, supercenters, and building supply retailers partially offset by losses in department stores and electronics retailers. Turnto10

The information sector continued to shed jobs, losing 13,000 positions in April. Information employment is now down 342,000, or 11 percent, from its recent peak in November 2022 — a trend that reflects both the contraction of traditional media and the ongoing displacement of workers in computing and data infrastructure. Average hourly earnings for private sector workers rose 6 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $37.41 — up 3.6 percent over the past year. Turnto10

The report also included revisions to prior months that slightly temper the optimism. February’s job total was revised down by 23,000 to a loss of 156,000 jobs — a notably weak month that is now confirmed to have been worse than initially reported. March was revised up slightly to 185,000, leaving the combined February-March total 16,000 lower than previously estimated.

The headline number will be welcomed by the White House, which has faced persistent questions about whether tariff uncertainty and federal workforce reductions would spill into the broader private economy. For now, the answer appears to be no — private employers are still hiring at a healthy clip even as Washington downsizes.

Sources: BLS Employment Situation — April 2026 | BLS Full PDF Report