The Jobs Report – April 2022

Highlight

In April, the economy added 428K jobs beating the consensus estimate of 380K. 

What you need to know:

1. The prior two months were revised down a total of 39K, bringing the three-month average job growth to 523K. We feel this is solid growth, but a decline from March’s 549K three-month average.
2. The private sector added 406K jobs, beating of the 390K estimate but 20K less than last month.
3. Job growth was widespread as all sectors of the economy grew employment in April.  There was a notable increase in the transportation and warehousing sector. In our view, this is a potential good sign that supply chain pressures may be easing.
4. Average hourly earning increased 5.5% from last year.  Although workers are enjoying solid wage growth post pandemic, they are still not keeping pace with rising consumer prices. This is a worry for consumer confidence and spending later this year.
5. Unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.6% and the participation rate fell back to 62.2% from 62.4% as the labor force shrank and the Household survey lost 353K. Household employment is only ~750K off pre-pandemic levels after strong job gains this year.
6. Overall, we feel this employment report is positive for the economy as it continues to grow, and jobs growth is balanced. As we noted, prices are rising faster than wages so the Fed is likely to continue its tightening of monetary policy this year to keep the economic recovery on track.