watch
now
Job
growth
stumbled
in
April,
with
a
few
previous
areas
of
strength
showing
meager
job
additions
or
even
losses.
The
U.S.
economy
added
175,000
jobs
overall,
well
below
Wall
Street
expectations.
Health
care
and
social
assistance
again
led
the
way
with
a
gain
of
87,000
jobs,
but
construction
and
leisure
and
hospitality
added
fewer
than
10,000
jobs
each,
well
below
the
prior
two
months.
The
slower
job
growth
could
be
good
news
on
the
inflation
front
but
will
raise
concerns
about
a
broader
economic
slowdown.
“After
what
looked
like
a
reacceleration
in
the
first
quarter,
today’s
Jobs
Report
shows
the
labor
market
returning
to
its
prior
trend
of
gradually
slowing
job
growth
and
wage
growth,”
Julia
Pollak,
chief
economist
at
ZipRecruiter,
said
in
a
note
Friday.
“Instead
of
stagflation,
the
report
shows
solid
payroll
gains
(+175K,
about
10K
more
than
the
2019
monthly
average)
and
cooling
wage
growth
(3.9%
YoY,
down
0.2
pt)
—
exactly
the
news
markets
and
the
Fed
were
hoping
for.
The
overall
picture
is
one
of
a
steady
labor
market
with
disinflationary
growth,”
Pollak
continued.
Some
white-collar
sectors
are
showing
signs
of
weakness.
The
information
sector
lost
8,000
jobs
for
its
second
negative
reading
in
three
months.
Professional
and
business
services
shed
4,000
positions,
led
by
losses
in
temporary
help
services.
One
bright
spot
was
retail
trade
adding
20,100
jobs,
which
was
5,000
above
its
March
number.
Job
growth
in
transportation
and
warehousing
also
accelerated
month
over
month
with
a
gain
of
21,800.
Within
those
two
groups,
general
merchandise
retailers
was
a
particularly
strong
area,
adding
10,000
jobs.
