Total employment rose by 266,000 for the month — far less than economists expected.

By Christina Dock

 

The U.S. nonfarm market added 266,000 jobs in April — a slower increase following larger gains in the months of February and March. Leisure and Hospitality saw the biggest growth by far, gaining 331,000 jobs, with government rolls seeing significant increases as well. More individuals are receiving vaccinations and lockdowns are lessening, likely causing an increase in these areas. However, on the flipside, Professional & Business Services and Transportation & Warehousing each lost over 70,00 jobs for the month, with Educational Services, Durable Goods, Manufacturing and Retail Trade down as well.

Nonfarm employment is down by 8.2 million, or 5.4 percent, from pre-pandemic levels in February 2020. Additionally, the unemployment rate in April remained almost identical to March, rising slightly from 6% to 6.1%.

The construction market was essentially unchanged for the month, with the expected gains and losses when drilling down. Specifically, building construction saw an overall increase of about 1,300 jobs from March to April, with the residential building segment losing about 1,300 jobs while the non-residential segment gained about 2,600 jobs. Heavy and civil engineering construction also saw an increase in employment, gaining approximately 6,300 jobs. Specialty trade contractors logged an overall decrease, losing about 7,400 jobs. Nonresidential specialty trade contractors saw the largest drop, losing approximately 11,800 jobs. Finally, residential specialty trade contractors saw an increase in employment, gaining about 4,400 jobs.

Although employment within Construction showed little movement for April, the industry this year is still ahead of 2020 levels by 917,000 jobs. Residential construction continues to add, and is already above the pre-pandemic employment level of February 2020 — something few other sectors can proclaim. Meanwhile, nonresidential construction has only regained 62% of its employment lost in March and April of 2020.