Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its Employment Situation Summary for April 2019.

Once again, the jobs report surpassed expectations, thanks to the tax cuts and deregulation by the Trump Administration and Republican members of Congress.

In April, 263,000 new jobs were added, beating the Wall Street prediction of 190,000 jobs. The most job gains were added in the professional and business services, construction, health care and social assistance sectors. Further, an average of 218,000 jobs have been added to the economy every month over the past year.

As a result of these strong job numbers, an astounding 5.4 million jobs have been added since January 2017.

In addition, the unemployment rate fell to 3.6%, the lowest it has been since December 1969. The unemployment rate has been at or below 4% for fourteen straight months.

Demographically, the unemployment rate for adult men dropped to 3.4%, and the unemployment rate for adult women also declined to 3.1%, its lowest rate since 1953. Further, the unemployment rates for Whites (3.1%), Asians (2.2%), and Hispanics (4.2%) also declined. The unemployment rate for Hispanics is at its lowest since the series began in 1973. The unemployment rates for teenagers (13%) and Blacks (6.7%) stayed at the same low rates.

Average hourly earnings are also still growing at 3.2%. This is the ninth straight month at or above 3% wage growth, and this growth is not just from inflation.

In response to the strong jobs report, Secretary Alex Acosta released a statement on how American workers are thriving:

“America’s workforce continues to see their paychecks grow, with year-over-year wage growth reaching 3.2%. The year-over-year average hourly earnings have grown at or exceeded 3.0% for nine straight months. Wage growth has not risen this fast since 2009.

For 14 consecutive months, the unemployment rate has remained at or below 4.0% and this month included widespread good news: the unemployment rate reached record lows for Hispanic-Americans, Americans with disabilities, and Gulf War II veterans, and matched record lows for Asian Americans and all veterans.” 

The number of jobs added in February and March was also adjusted upward by a net of 16,000 jobs.

Congratulations again to President Donald Trump, the Trump Administration, Secretary Acosta, the Department of Labor, and Republican members of Congress for another strong jobs report!