Expectations heading into this week showed projections of about 55,000 new jobs being created in the United States in April. As it turns out, according to the new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the totals exceeded those expectations. CNBC reported:
On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that nonfarm payrolls rose by 115,000 in April, more than the 55,000 that economists polled by Dow Jones were expecting. The U.S. jobless rate also held steady at 4.3%, in line with expectations.
These aren’t horrible numbers, and it’s good news that the data from April exceeded expectations despite the effects of the war with Iran. But 115,000 is still a relatively modest total. In 2024, for example, when Donald Trump told voters that the economy was terrible, the average monthly total for the year was roughly 121,000 jobs. A year earlier, when the Republican also tried to convince the public that the economy was failing, the average monthly total for the year was roughly 209,000 jobs.
A third of the way into this year, the average monthly total for 2026 is 76,000.
All told, the U.S. economy has added 420,000 jobs over Trump’s 16-month second term. Over the previous 16 months, the economy added more than 2 million jobs.
Recommended
To contextualize the data, MS NOW put together this chart showing recent month-to-month totals. The blue columns point to Joe Biden’s presidency, while the red columns point to Trump’s.
Note: February was revised down by 23,000, March was revised up by 7,000; Chart: Carson Elm-Picard / MS NOW; Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
It remains to be seen whether the president responds to the trend by firing the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (again).
This post updates our related earlier coverage.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
Latest Post