U.S. job report outperforms economists expectations in April

However, the clouds are getting darker looking at the months ahead.

New Job Report

The US economy outperformed the expectations be economists in April by adding 177,000 new nonfarm jobs, a report from the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics shows.

Outperforming economists expectations

Ahead of the report, economists expected 135,000 new jobs to be added in April, which means the actual job creation was more than 30 % higher than the expectations.

Slowdown from March

Even though April outperformed the expectations from economists, it is still a slight slowdown compared to the 185,000 jobs created in March.

Steady unemployment rate

The unemployment rate in March was 4.2 %, and that number has not changed in April, according to FactSet consensus estimates.

Uncertainty looms

Even though the job creation exceeded expectations, recent economic data should serve as a warning sign, as indications of uncertainty and layoffs are on the rise amid the many questions surrounding the Trump administrations policy shifts.