US employers defy economic shock from Iran war and add a surprisingly strong 115,000 jobs in April

[BumRushDaShow]

Last edited Fri May 8, 2026, 09:53 AM - Edit history (1)

Source: AP

Updated 9:23 AM EDT, May 8, 2026


WASHINGTON (AP) -- America's employers a delivered a surprising 115,000 new jobs last month despite an economic shock from the Iran war. Hiring was better than the 65,000 forecasters had expected, though it decelerated from the 185,000 jobs created in March. The unemployment rate remained at a low 4.3%.

The Iran war has caused the biggest disruption of global oil supplies in history and sent average U.S. gasoline prices surging past $4.50 a gallon this week. But the conflict hasn't done much damage to the American job market so far.

Healthcare added 37,000 jobs last month and transportation and warehousing companies 30,000. However, manufacturers cut 2,000 jobs in April and have shed 66,000 jobs over the past year despite President Donald Trump's protectionist policies aimed at creating factory jobs.

Labor Department revisions shaved 16,000 jobs from February and March payrolls. Average hourly earnings rose 0.2% from March and 3.6% from April 2025, consistent with the Federal Reserve's 2% inflation target. The number of people in the U.S. labor force dropped last month, and the share of those working or looking for work -- the so-called labor force participation rate -- dropped to 61.8%, lowest since October 2021.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/jobs-economy-unemployment-trump-iran-war-2cf46bfbf7748403ea0245100af45504

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From the source -

Link to tweet

BLS-Labor Statistics
@BLS_gov
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Payroll employment edges up by 115,000 in April; unemployment rate unchanged at 4.3% https://bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm #JobsReport #BLSdata
8:32 AM · May 8, 2026

My usual sites are doing "Live Updates" versions that can't be posted here.

Expectations were about 1/2 of this so we are back in the era of "swings and misses".

For continuity - the CNBC PLOT -




Article updated.

Previous article -

Updated 8:58 AM EDT, May 8, 2026


WASHINGTON (AP) -- America's employers a delivered a surprising 115,000 new jobs last month despite an economic shock from the Iran war. Hiring was better than the 65,000 forecasters had expected, though it decelerated from the 185,000 jobs created in March. The unemployment rate remained at a low 4.3%.

The Iran war has caused the biggest disruption of global oil supplies in history and sent average U.S. gasoline prices surging past $4.50 a gallon this week. But the conflict hasn't done much damage to the American job market so far.

Healthcare added 37,000 jobs last month and retailers 22,000. However, manufacturers cut 2,000 jobs in April and have shed 66,000 jobs over the past year despite President Donald Trump's protectionist policies aimed at creating factory jobs. Labor Department revisions shaved 16,000 jobs from February and March payrolls.

Average hourly earnings rose 0.2% from March and 3.6% from April 2025, consistent with the Federal Reserve's 2% inflation target. Baby Boomer retirements and Trump's immigration crackdown mean that fewer people are competing for work and that the economy doesn't need to generate as many jobs as it used to.

Original article/headline -

U.S. employers added a surprising 115,000 jobs last month despite the economic shock from Iran war

Updated 8:36 AM EDT, May 8, 2026


WASHINGTON (AP) -- America's employers a delivered a surprising 115,000 new jobs last month despite an economic shock from the Iran war.

Hiring was better than the 65,000 forecasters had expected, though it decelerated from the 185,000 jobs created in March. The unemployment rate remained at a low 4.3%.

The Iran war has caused the biggest disruption of global oil supplies in history and sent average U.S. gasoline prices surging past $4.50 a gallon this week. But the conflict hasn't done much damage to the American job market so far.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story follows below.

[bearsfootball516]

1. I'm sure in a couple months, this jobs report will be revised to be significantly lower.

As seems to be the case recently.

[Ferrets are Cool]

2. All I hear about is all the layoffs. Honestly, these numbers are NOT good news.

Most of these jobs are because Americans are older and sicker.


"U.S. hiring, though, has been dominated by one industry: Healthcare companies, catering to an aging American population, have added 360,000 jobs over the past year; other employers have combined to cut 120,000 over the 12 months that ended in March."

[Johnny2X2X]

3. 115,000 is a bad report

They've lowered the bar so much that bad jobs reports are hailed as good news.

If Joe Biden would have had these numbers it would have been headline negative coverage for weeks and people demanding he resign.

[Farmer-Rick]

12. Exactly

And you know they are going to revise these numbers down. And look where the jobs are coming from, medical for baby boomers and retail. The US is a nation of clerks and waiters. There was actually a drop in manufacturing jobs.

Smokey Bones restaurant chain and 5 other corporations here in East Tennessee have closed in the last 2 months. And you know what we are getting instead? Uranium processing plants. Several of them.

They are creating a new cancer alley in the Smoky mountains. Enjoy your visit to Dollywood and the Smokey mountains. The radiation will be waiting for you. Let's hope a tractor trailer spill or another major flooding doesn't spread the radiation further out.

And here's the kicker. No one in the local area is going to get those high tech uranium processing jobs. Tennessee doesn't have that educational infrastructure for jobs like that. Those jobs are going to other states that have high tech education or from foreign countries.

[travelingthrulife]

19. Well Medicaid is set to be destroyed after the midterms, so healthcare facilities

will be laying off in droves.

[Irish_Dem]

4. Do we know if these are honest numbers or more lies?

[RoseTrellis]

5. Are their lips moving

If their lips are moving, they are lying!🤥

[Irish_Dem]

10. This is my assuming on anything coming from the US govt now.

[bucolic_frolic]

6. LNB numbers

Lutnick, Navarro, & Bessent

Compiled by Kash & Associates

[Irish_Dem]

11. We know how honest and competent they are.

[Scrivener7]

7. That'll be adjusted down by 200K in four months.

[Lovie777]

8. Those are not good numbers..............

hell, the current administration lies so much, it's probably much lower if not (-).

[CousinIT]

9. I do not trust a damn thing coming from this administration.

Sad, we used to be able to trust BLS numbers. But not with Trump or Republicans in charge.

The media? AP is typically reasonable, but I don't trust most of them either.

So ....

[doc03]

13. If Biden had those numbers the media would be

saying is a recession coming. They questioned every month whether a recession was coming even while he had over 300,000 jobs gain.

[PSPS]

14. LOL. Strong?

150K jobs are needed just to keep up with the increase in working-age population.
Also, the unemployment figure excludes long-term unemployed -- those who have given up looking.
The participation rate is at historical lows, too.

[mathematic]

18. No, No, No, No. You do not need 150k jobs to keep up with the pop. That rule of thumb is wrong.

I have no idea why people have kept saying this for decades despite being absolutely, 100% wrong.

You do not need 150k jobs per month to keep up with population. This isn't true. It's not a good rule of thumb.

Last month the entire population change was 97k. That's not the increase in the working age population. That's the entire population considered for these statistics (over 16, civilian non-institutionalized).

People retire. Unless you want to put retired people to work, the participation rate is going to remain near or at historical lows until people start dying at 70 again.

[displacedvermoter]

20. Are you also saying it was true for Democrats but not Trump?

[mathematic]

21. Literally have no idea why you would think I said that.

It wasn't true for Bush. It wasn't true for Obama. It wasn't true for Trump 1. It wasn't true for Biden. And it's still not true for Trump 2.

And yet it persists as an easy shortcut to complain about jobs numbers when politically convenient. Virtually nobody here gives a damn about understanding what these employment statistics mean. It's always a cudgel.

[displacedvermoter]

22. Ok

[displacedvermoter]

23. Not being the statistician as you I quickly looked up what the Fed said

and according to the Dallas Fed, the 250k baseline was still the measuring stick "especially in 2024 and early 2025" until, what I can tell, the dramatic fluctuations in immigration caused this baseline figure to be changed downwards. The more people Trump deports, legally ot otherwise, and the fewer he allows to migrate here, make his jobs created numbers look better.

So the Fed, too, says it was 250,000 under Biden but now it is whatever under Trump.

Now I understand...

[OhioBack2Blue]

15. The more disturbiing trend...

....over the last 40 years has been the persistent decline of labor, not growth. Profits are growing without people. Those with jobs are increasingly in the minority. Congress just buries its head in the sand.

Of course Republicons are gutting the "safety nets & they have succeeded to privatize the suffering. Rarely you see a bread line, soup line, job line....in fact it is somewhat the opposite....you look outside & see/conclude "everybody has money & is so busy." But it is not progress...these problems are not solved...they are getting worse... you just cannot see them physically manifesting as it was in past history, but stop & talk to people one on one like I do, everyday. Millions in the US are hurting & being hurt.

The don't see any connection between their vote & positive change in their lives. In fact, they see corporations and govt making Americans grovel again.

The predatory debt, the medical & mental illness, the addiction, the anger, the unemployment (within the marginalized groups, the over 50, the unskilled, the "over educated" research/ scientists, the public workers etc.).

Reminds me of the 70s & 80s....we were all living together & pooling whatever money & resources we all we able to obtain, however we were able to obtain it/them.

So much winning.

[jmbar2]

16. Do the jobs numbers include H1Bs?

Link to tweet

[Rebl2]

17. When

President Biden and Obama were in office, anything under 200,000 was considered bad news for job numbers .

[SamuelAdams]

24. This is why the media is not trusted.

If the economy created 200,000 jobs under Biden, the media talked about a recession. The number is 115,000 now and it's strong and defiant. The labor force participation rate was a big topic under Biden. But it just hit its lowest level in 4.5 years and gets a brief mention toward the end of the article. This is why economic numbers are always better under Democrats but polls often show the GOP favored on the economy.