isn't the turbocharged hiring machine of the last couple of years. Instead, hiring looks to be moderate, steady and solid.Friday's employment report should ease fears that the job market is reaccelerating — while offering reassurance that it's still healthy, with few signs the economy is in trouble.Employers added 175,000 jobs in April, down from an upwardly revised 315,000 payrolls in March.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 3.9% from 3.8% — a move that looks even smaller if you go out an extra decimal place, as it rose from 3.83% in March to 3.86% in April. It's the 27th consecutive month that the jobless rate has been below 4% — matching the longest stretch since the 1960s.There's a lot to like in the report — both for workers who are still in high demand and Federal Reserve officials looking for proof that inflation pressures are subsiding.The share of employed prime-age workers, those between 25 and 54, rose a tick to 80.8% — hovering near the highest in more than 20 years. .
Average hourly earnings rose just 0.2% in April, down a tick from the prior month. Over the past three months, they rose at a 2.8% annualized rate — sharply lower than 4% in March.Yields on the two-year Treasury note — most sensitive to policy moves by the Fed — dropped by 0.09 percentage points after the report, as it is consistent with the Fed delivering interest rate cuts at some point this year.
" weaker numbers need to mark the start of a new slower trend for multiple rate cuts to seriously be back on the agenda — but, by then, the new fear could be a slowing economy," Shah added.Share on linkedin