Read the latest from Geographic Solutions.
Employment in the U.S. rose by 187,000 jobs, while the unemployment rate fell to 3.5%. The Geographic Solutions forecast matched the 3.5% result and outperformed the WSJ estimate of 3.6%.
Job creation was strongest in the Education & Health Services and Government sectors.
Our staff economist, Phillip Sprehe, predicts an increase in jobs of 248,000 on June's labor market report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
April’s unexpectedly strong results are the second disruption to the slowing trend we have seen in hiring, since July 2022.
Geographic Solutions’ data is signaling further softening in the number of new jobs in April.
The March Labor Market Report shows that job growth has slowed. Although fewer, the representation remained a solid expansion, with an increase in the labor force participation rate.
Although the gains were smaller than the surprising 504,000 new jobs in January, the performance in February was still strong.
Despite employment figures increasing to 223,000 in December, which is 20,000 over The Wall Street Journal's prediction, growth has been gradually weakening since October 2021.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its monthly Current Employment Statistics (CES) report and Current Population Survey (CPS) for March 2022 on Friday, April 1st.
Employment in the region is only a few hundred jobs away from reaching its pre-pandemic high of 79,000 jobs in February 2020.