Total nonfarm payroll rose by 115,000 in April, and the unemployment rate remained at 4.3%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, beating economists’ expectations despite being considered a slowdown compared to March.
The numbers point to a market becoming “increasingly selective,” Ger Doyle, regional president, North America, at ManpowerGroup, said in a statement. Despite topline resilience, job seekers are having a harder time finding jobs, particularly those at the entry level, Doyle noted.
“Employers currently hold more leverage in the labor market and are hiring with greater precision, concentrating demand in senior, specialized, and execution‑ready roles,” Doyle said.
Even overall growth may be saturated in only a few specific industries. Many of the gains in recent months have been concentrated in healthcare roles, Cory Stahle, senior economist at Indeed, said in a statement.
“Remove healthcare from the equation, and the US labor market is actually losing more than it is gaining — shedding employment in 10 of the last 12 months (on a 3-month average basis),” Stahle said, which he called “a clear vulnerability” amid various market stressors, including the war in Iran. Previous surveys have indicated that the war as well as variables such as artificial intelligence investment have eroded company growth plans.
Notably, labor force participation continued to fall, meaning there are now fewer jobs needed to maintain stable unemployment, ZipRecruiter Economist Nicole Bachaud said in a statement.
“An aging population, reduction in immigration, and a low birth rate are all contributing factors to the pull back in labor supply,” Bachaud said. “This demographic shift will recalibrate how labor market health is measured.”