The U.S. economy added 177,000 jobs in April, and analysts' expectations remained the highest despite the early economic turmoil of Donald Trump's second term.
The Labor Department data released on Friday showed that the job market remained stable despite Trump’s tariffs driving uncertainty.
The healthcare industry has added 51,000 jobs, the highest overall revenue job, but is consistent with the average monthly growth over the past 12 months. The transportation and warehousing sector also saw significant growth, with 29,000 jobs gained in April.
But experts say growth in these sectors, especially, may indicate that industries are stocking up before Trump’s high tariffs begin, driving prices for imports.
“People want to do a preload before the tariff rate hikes and bring more material,” said Stuart Mackintosh, executive director of the Financial Think Tank Thirty Group.
While Friday’s labor report contained positive signs, McIntosh added that other economic indicators indicate uncertainty across the market, which could ultimately undercut future employment statistics.
"Companies of big and small have warned about future earnings forecasts. It's the company telling us, 'We don't know. We're not sure. We hope (earnings) will drop."
“I suspect this will soon be a job.”
Still, Friday’s labor report shows that despite a series of changes since Trump took office in January, U.S. jobs remained stable.
Over the past four months, Trump has adopted an aggressive trade policy aimed at reducing the trade deficit, largely due to the threat of tariffs. Currently, the U.S. has 10% tariffs on imports, and it is likely to increase tariffs on various countries in the next three months.
However, China currently faces tariffs of 145% due to the ongoing trade war with the United States. Meanwhile, Canada and Mexico bear 25% tariffs, which are subject to tariffs on all products covered by the regional free trade agreement Trump has facilitated during his first term.
Experts warn that Trump could have a negative door-knock effect over the long term, including the possibility of slowing economic growth and recession.
But Friday’s report shows that the U.S. labor market has not yet reflected any widespread harm. The unemployment rate remained stable at 4.2% in April.
The number of underemployed workers who work part-time for economic reasons also shows a change of 4.7 million. The labor force participation rate is 62.6%.
Wages have also increased: the average hourly wage has risen by 6 cents to $36.06 since last month. The average hourly income increased by 3.8% per year.
However, the number of Americans who have been unemployed for a long time was listed as 27 weeks or more, with a total of 1.79 million people increasing by 179,000.
However, other reports have not shown strong job growth. ADP Research, a company that tracks private-sector payroll, found in April that it added only 62,000 jobs, marking the smallest monthly earnings since July 2024.
ADP chief economist Nela Richardson said in a press release to the findings that “unsettlement” is a common sentiment.
“Employers are trying to reconcile policy and consumer uncertainty with most positive economic data,” she explained.
Meanwhile, another report with employment services firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas shows that the U.S. economy cut more than 105,000 jobs in April despite hiring gains.
One area that did show huge losses in Friday’s report was government employment.
The Labor Department report shows that in April alone, 9,000 jobs fell. Overall, 26,000 government workers have been found to be unemployed since January.
While the report does not speculate about the reason for this downward trend, the Trump administration has been speaking out on its mission to reduce the size of the federal government.
As the country’s largest employer, the federal government has more than 2,925,000 employees as of 2023. However, Trump has adopted a policy of mass layoffs, which is the prerequisite for the administration's "trash" and "waste, fraud and abuse."
The newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is responsible for simplifying the federal workforce under tech billionaire Elon Musk.
Thousands of federal workers are expected to be fired by the end of the year, but are currently being challenged in programs such as federal courts and through a performance system protection committee that protects employees’ rights.
As a result, some employees are taking paid leave. Others are currently receiving severance payments. Neither group will be classified as “unemployed” for the purposes of the April work report.
Challengers, Gray and Christmas found in their report that there are a total of 282,227 federal jobs so far this year, most of which may be attributed to Doge's layoffs. Since April 2024, the number of job cuts in government departments has increased by 680%.
Layouts have achieved critical government functions. Earlier this month, Reuters of the News Agency reported that the Food and Drug Administration was suspending quality control programs in its food emergency network due to staffing cuts.
But government cuts may even have an impact on the employment market, even beyond the federal labor force.
The Trump administration is also trying to reduce government spending, cutting back on grants, contracts and foreign aid programs using U.S. companies as private contractors.
Experts believe that, for example, benefits in the health care sector this month may be short-lived due to cuts by government agencies such as the Ministry of Health and Human Services.
These departments often provide funds to universities and private companies to conduct research on their behalf.
“The government has been cutting funding for institutions (such as in higher education, research institutions). They have been cutting grants to specific communities to serve children’s mental health,” said Jessica Fulton, a senior researcher at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Research, a mind tank focused on the black community.
“These are investments in sustaining the work,” Fulton explained. “We will see the impact of these (cuts) in future work reports.”
She also noted that Congressional legislation could also lead to a shrinking health care sector.
Critics believe that the current Republican-led budget bill would require Medicaid cuts for government insurance plans for low-income individuals to fund tax cuts and other parties’ priorities.
“Any potential program like Medicaid could threaten these jobs,” Fulton said. “We are waiting for the posture.”
Other industries are also preparing for future economic turmoil. This week, several companies, including social media giant Snap and automaker Stellantis, suspended their future guidance for investors. Stellantis had already addressed 900 workers in early April because uncertainty drove the tariffs.
The Department of Commerce released a report showing that U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 0.3% in the first quarter of 2025, while growth rate of 2.4% in the fourth quarter of 2024.
A separate report released by an economic nonprofit organization on Tuesday showed consumer confidence fell by 7.9 points in April.
"April fell for the fifth straight month, with levels not found since the communal pandemic began," Stephanie Guichard, senior economist at the conference committee, said in a statement.
The report also points to growing fears about the situation in the job market. An estimated 32% of Americans expect fewer jobs to be available in the next six months, a rate that is found by the board at the height of the Great Depression.