New report shows that American employers added 428,000 jobs in April as the U.S. job market continues to grow in the midst of punishing inflation and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
According to the Labor Department on Friday, the unemployment rate was at 3.6%, just above the lowest level in 52 years, extending a streak of solid hiring in the face of the worst inflation in four decades.
The four-week average for claims, which compensates for weekly volatility, fell to 211,750 from the previous week’s 223,250.
It’s still unclear how long the hiring gains will continue. The Federal Reserve last week raised rates by 0.50 percent to combat inflation, making borrowing and spending money more expensive for consumers and businesses.
Despite soaring gas prices and fear that the Fed’s high-interest rate hikes will eventually bring the U.S. into a recession, the job market’s resiliency has been remarkably striking.
“The labor market remains in solid shape as the spring quarter begins,’’ said Stuart Hoffman, senior economic adviser at PNC Financial. “Demand for labor is very strong … Firms are competing for workers and bidding up wages.’’
Fed Chair Jerome Powell also said that he sees the current economy as being strong even with Russia’s continued military operation in Ukraine.
“The probability of a recession in the next year is not particularly elevated. All signs [are that] this is a strong economy and one that will be able to flourish in the face of less accommodative monetary policy,” said Powell in a statement.
Last February, the department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said that the consumer price index increased by 7.9 percent over the past year while the Biden administration also announced recently it is pushing back against U.S. energy production amid soaring gas prices.
With all of that combined, economic experts are fearing that the country could enter a recession during the fourth quarter of 2023 and into 2024.
“We no longer see the Fed achieving a soft landing,” Deutsche Bank economists told Fox News. “Instead, we anticipate that a more aggressive tightening of monetary policy will push the economy into a recession.”
Americans have been suffering from financial strain recently, but thankfully, jobs are booming across the country and the Fed is doing something to ease our troubles, unlike President Joe Biden.
