U.S. payroll growth totals 177,000 in April, defying expectations

• Nonfarm payrolls increased a seasonally adjusted 177,000 for the month, slightly below the downwardly revised 185,000 in March but above the Dow Jones estimate for 133,000.
• The unemployment rate, however, stayed at 4.2%, as expected, indicating that the labor market is holding relatively stable.
• Average hourly earnings rose just 0.2% for the month, below the 0.3% forecast, while the annual rate of 3.8% also was 0.1 percentage point less than expected

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/02/jobs-report-april-2025.html