What to expect from the jobs report

The US job market has been on a roll for the past three years. Some economists even say “it’s as good as it’s ever been.”

The US job market has been on a roll for the past three years. Some economists even say “it’s as good as it’s ever been.” That storyline isn’t expected to change when April’s jobs report lands at 8:30 am ET — but it’s possible there might be a slight softening to the strong gains seen in the first quarter. “The longer interest rates are high, [the more] they put a slow squeeze on the economy,” Julia Pollak, chief economist at employment website ZipRecruiter, told CNN in an interview. “I think we will continue to see that gradual, fairly orderly slowdown in the labor market until [rates] start coming down.” So far this year, the economy has added, on average, 276,000 jobs per month, Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows. That’s about 25,000 more jobs per month than last year and 111,000 more per month than in 2019. For Friday’s report, economists are forecasting that employers added 232,500 jobs in April, which would be down from the estimated 303,000 net jobs added in March, according to FactSet consensus estimates. The unemployment rate is expected to stay at 3.8%. If those expectations hold true, some already historic streaks would grow. It would be the 40th consecutive month of employment expansion (the fifth longest on record) and the 27th month in a row that the nation’s jobless rate held below 4% (matching a 27-month streak from 1967 to 1970).