{"id":260,"date":"2026-05-08T19:33:52","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T19:33:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=260"},"modified":"2026-05-08T19:33:52","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T19:33:52","slug":"us-employers-defy-economic-shock-from-iran-war-and-add-a-surprisingly-strong-115000-jobs-in-april","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=260","title":{"rendered":"US employers defy economic shock from Iran war and add a surprisingly strong 115,000 jobs in April"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

WASHINGTON<\/strong> | America\u2019s employers delivered a surprising 115,000 new jobs last month despite an economic shock from the Iran war.<\/p>\n

Hiring beat the 65,000 jobs forecasters had expected, though it decelerated from the 185,000 jobs created in March. The unemployment rate remained at a low 4.3%, the Labor Department reported Friday.<\/p>\n

The Iran war has caused the biggest disruption of global oil supplies in history and sent average U.S. gasoline prices surging past $4.50 a gallon this week. But the conflict hasn\u2019t done much damage to the American job market so far. And the import taxes \u2014 tariffs \u2014 that President Donald Trump imposed last year haven\u2019t turned out to be as high and as damaging as originally feared.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe labor market is not booming, but it is proving harder to break than many feared,\u201d said Olu Sonola, head of U.S. economics at Fitch Ratings.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Healthcare added 37,000 jobs last month and transportation and warehousing companies 30,000. However, manufacturers cut 2,000 jobs in April and have shed 66,000 jobs over the past year despite Trump\u2019s protectionist policies aimed at creating factory jobs.<\/p>\n

\u201cBusinesses to some extent are viewing the conflict in Iran as temporary,\u201d said Gus Faucher, chief economist at the financial firm PNC. \u201cWe continue to see solid growth in consumer spending. And we\u2019re seeing strong business investment, particularly around tech and AI. The economy continues to expand. We\u2019ve weathered some shocks. The worst of the tariff impact is likely over.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Faucher cautioned that \u201cthe longer conflict in Iran lasts, the higher energy prices go, the longer they stay elevated the greater the drag on the economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Labor Department revisions shaved 16,000 jobs from February and March payrolls.<\/p>\n

Average hourly earnings rose 0.2% from March and 3.6% from April 2025, consistent with the Federal Reserve\u2019s 2% inflation target.<\/p>\n

The number of people in the U.S. labor force dropped last month, and the share of those working or looking for work \u2014 the so-called labor force participation rate \u2014 dropped to 61.8%, lowest since October 2021.<\/p>\n

Baby Boomer retirements and Trump\u2019s immigration crackdown mean that fewer people are competing for work and that the economy doesn\u2019t need to generate as many jobs as it used to.<\/p>\n

Matthew Martin of Oxford Economics says the so-called break-even point \u2014 the number of new jobs required each month to keep the unemployment rate from rising \u2014 is now near zero.<\/p>\n

After the U.S. and Israel launched their attacks Feb. 28, Iran shut down the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world\u2019s oil and liquefied natural gas passes. The disruption has caused a painful increase in the price of energy and led many economists to downgrade their estimates for global and U.S. economic growth.<\/p>\n

Payroll processor ADP reported Wednesday that private employers added a solid 109,000 jobs in April. The ADP figure isn\u2019t a reliable guide to what the Labor Department will report Friday \u2013 but the pace of hiring it showed was the fastest since January 2025. And on Tuesday the Labor Department reported that a measure of gross hiring \u2013 before subtracting those who left or lost their jobs \u2013 was stronger in March than it had been in more than two years.<\/p>\n

The economy is getting a boost from big tax refund checks this spring, arising from Trump\u2019s tax cut legislation last year; the refunds allow consumers to spend more freely, giving companies an incentive to add workers in response to rising sales.<\/p>\n

The job market is showing intermittent signs of recovery after a bleak 2025. Employers last year created just 9,700 jobs a month, fewest outside a recession year since 2002. High interest rates and uncertainty over Trump\u2019s economic policies held back hiring.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s been progress this year, but it\u2019s been uneven \u2014 strong growth (160,000 new jobs) in January, March (185,000) and April\u2019s 115,000 and one bad month (employers cut 156,000 jobs in February).<\/p>\n

U.S. hiring, though, has been dominated by one industry: Healthcare companies, catering to an aging American population, have added 456,000 jobs over the past year; other employers have combined to cut 205,000 over the 12 months that ended in April.<\/p>\n

Still, Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, noted that last month\u2019s job gains extended beyond healthcare. Retailers, for example, added 22,000 jobs and construction companies 9,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmerica\u2019s hiring recession appears to be over,\u201d she wrote. \u201cAverage job gains in 2025 were an anemic 10,000 a month. So far in 2026, the average is 76,000. The bad news is inflation is eating up wage gains again. Wages grew at 3.6%. That certainly won\u2019t be enough at a time when inflation is expected to hit 4%. Americans still have jobs, but they are financially squeezed by surging gas prices and transportation costs.\u201d<\/p>\n

The jobs data will likely keep the Fed on the sidelines, as it holds its key rate unchanged while evaluating the economic impact of the Iran war. Fed officials are increasingly focused on inflation, which has risen quickly since the war, driven higher by spikes in gasoline prices.<\/p>\n

Inflation jumped to 3.3% in March, a two-year high and far above the Fed\u2019s target. The Fed typically keeps its rate unchanged \u2014 or even raises it \u2014 to combat inflation, while it cuts rates to spur more growth and hiring. Early this year many Fed policymakers were worried the job market was stalling and leaned toward rate cuts. But in more recent months hiring has stabilized, undermining the case for cuts.<\/p>\n

The strong hiring data lands as U.S. corporations post solid quarterly performances to start the year.<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s jobs report, PNC\u2019s Faucher said, \u201cactually makes it less likely that we see a rate cut anytime soon because the Fed can say: \u2018The job market is solid. Let\u2019s get inflation back down to 2%. This is not the time to cut rates.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

AP Economics Writer Christopher Rugaber contributed to this story.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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WASHINGTON | America\u2019s employers delivered a surprising 115,000 new jobs last month despite an economic shock from the Iran war. Hiring beat the 65,000 jobs forecasters had expected, though it decelerated from the 185,000 jobs created in March. The unemployment rate remained at a low 4.3%, the Labor Department reported Friday. 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