The US economy added a stronger-than-expected 177,000 jobs in April

America’s long-resilient job market continues to defy expectations — even in the wake of swirling uncertainty.

The US economy added a surprisingly strong 177,000 jobs in April, a slight slowdown from March’s downwardly revised 185,000 gains, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Friday. April’s gain was stronger than the average pace of monthly job growth in the prior three months.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.2%, a historically low level.

Economists polled by data firm FactSet were expecting the economy to have added just 135,000 jobs last month, and that the unemployment rate held at 4.2%.

Stock futures rose Friday morning as investors digested the report. Dow futures were up 300 points, or 0.77%. S&P 500 futures gained 0.78% and futures tied to the Nasdaq 100 rose 0.73%.

April’s jobs report marks another solid month of employment gains and a continuation of a historic expansion of the labor market, but that’s on the backdrop of growing recession fears.

Since staging a stunning recovery from the pandemic, the labor market has been a pillar of strength for the economy. It remains to be seen if that will persist amid the historically high level of uncertainty sowed by President Donald Trump’s policies.

The administration’s major policy shifts have already shown up in official labor figures: The federal government shed 9,000 jobs last month, down 26,000 since January, the Labor Department reported. Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency has slashed jobs and eliminated or dramatically downsized a slew of federal agencies. Still, the government sector overall, including state and local, was up 10,000 jobs in April.

April’s top job creators

Many of the same industries that have pumped out jobs over the past year continued to do so in April.

The private education and health services sector was April’s top job creator, adding 70,000 jobs last month. Many of those gains were driven by the health care industry, which contributed 51,000 of those jobs. Hospitals and ambulatory health service providers were the top job-creating firms in the industry.

The transportation and warehousing industry was April’s second-biggest job creator, expanding headcount by 29,000. In recent months, Americans have rushed to purchase goods to get ahead of Trump’s tariffs, which sent retail sales surging in March.

In addition to the federal government, retailers and manufacturers lost jobs in April.

This story is developing and will be updated.