WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. economy added 115,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in April, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The gains in April more than doubled expectations from Dow Jones economists, which CNBC reports forecasted 55,000 new jobs. The U.S. unemployment rate remained unchanged from March at 4.3 percent.

Among employment sectors, healthcare saw the biggest jump, adding 37,000 jobs in April. This is on par with its 12-month average monthly gain of 32,000. Within the healthcare segment, job growth occurred most in nursing and residential care (15,000) and home healthcare services (11,000). Other sectors that experienced growth last month include retail trade (22,000) and social assistance (17,000).

On the flip side, the federal government continues to shed jobs as the U.S. government cut 9,000 positions last month. Since its peak in October 2024, the federal government is down by 348,000 jobs, or 11.5 percent.

Similarly, losses continue for the information sector, with 13,000 jobs lost in April. The information sector — which includes telecommunications, motion picture and sound recording, computing infrastructure, data processing and web hosting — has had employment dwindle by 342,000 jobs, or 11 percent, since reaching its apex in November 2022.

The BLS revised February job gains down by 23,000 (from -133,000 to -156,000) and March jobs up by 7,000 (from 178,000 to 185,000). With these revisions, employment across those two months is 16,000 fewer than previously reported.