Associated Press Economics Writer Paul Wiseman
WASHINGTON (AP) — US employers delayed employment last month, but still added 139,000 jobs amid uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s trade war.
The Labor Department said Friday that employment fell from the revised 147,000 in April. The profits from the job last month were slightly higher than 130,000 economists had predicted. However, the revision shaved 95,000 jobs from its March and April salaries.
The unemployment rate remained 4.2% lower.
The healthcare company has added 62,000 jobs, 30,000 bars and restaurants. However, the federal government has reduced its employment of 22,000 since November 2020. And last month, the company lost 8,000 jobs at the factory, Glassdoor economist Daniel Chao said the manufacturer may be cutting in the face of higher costs resulting from Trump’s tariffs.
The average hourly wage has increased by 0.4% from April and 3.9% from the previous year. This is a little higher than expected.
Trump’s aggressive and unpredictable policies, particularly his drastic tax on imports, disrupts the outlook for the economy and job markets, and heightens fears that the US economy could be heading for a recession. However, so far, no damage has been clearly shown to government economic data.
“Even amid the uncertainty of the peak of trade, the labour market remained fairly solid,” writes Sheemashha, chief global strategist in key asset management, in the commentary. “Salaries are still robust territory, with obvious cracks being formed, and employment data likely to show clear signs of softening towards the end of summer, but this is not a labor market that is beginning to fall apart at seams.
Economists hope that Trump’s policies will hit the world’s largest American economy. His massive taxes on imports — tariffs — are expected to raise the costs of US companies that force them to purchase raw materials, equipment and components from overseas, cut jobs and fire workers. Billionaire Elon Musk’s Government Efficiency (DOGE) cut federal workers and canceled government contracts. Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration is expected to make it difficult for businesses to find adequate workers.
However, in most cases, government economic data still has no sign of damage.
The US economy and job market have proven surprisingly resilient in recent years. When the Federal Reserve inflation fighters raised benchmark rates 11 times in 2022 and 2023, higher borrowing costs were widely expected to plunge the US into a recession.
Still, the job market is clearly slowing. So far, US employers have added an average of less than 124,000 jobs a month. That’s down from 168,000 last year to 216,000 in 2023 and 380,000 in 2022.
And former Fed economist Claudia Sahm warns that the 2025 job market is as untenable as when immigrants were poured into the US job market and employers were posting record-breaking jobs.
“Signs of weakness in data this week will once again blow away the fear of the recession,” Sarm, now a chief economist with a New Century Advisor, wrote in this week’s Subsack Post. “It’s too early to see the full impact of tariffs, Doge or other policies on the labour market. As it is softer now, it will be less resilient to these later effects and the possibility of a recession.”
Recent economic reports have sent mixed signals.
The Labor Bureau reported Tuesday that US job openings unexpectedly rose to 7.4 million in April. However, the same report showed that layoffs had been slashed, reducing the number of Americans leaving their jobs.
A survey by the Supply Management Institute, a trade association for purchasing managers, last month found that both American manufacturing and services businesses were contracted.
And the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose to their highest level in eight months last week.
The claims during unemployment are still low by layoff proxy-hit standards, suggesting employers are reluctant to cut staff despite uncertainty about Trump’s policies. They will remember how difficult it is to bring people back from the massive but short-lived layoffs of the 2020 Covid-19 recession as the US economy bounced back with unexpected forces.
Still, the job market is clearly slowing. So far, American employers have added an average of 144,000 jobs a month. This fell from a record 603,000 rebounds last year, 216,000 in 2023, 380,000 in 2022 and a record 603,000 rebounds from the Covid-19 layoffs in 2021.
Trump’s tariffs, and the unstable way he unfolds them, pauses them, reminds them of new, already exhausts the economy. The US Gross Domestic Product – the production of national goods and services – fell at a rate of 0.2% per year from January to March this year.
The surge in imports shaved five percentage points from growth in the first quarter as businesses rushed to bring in foreign products ahead of Trump’s tariffs. Imports plunged at a record 16% in April as Trump’s taxes came into effect. The decline in foreign goods could mean less work in warehouses that store them, and the trucking company that carries them writes Michael Madwitz, an economist at the left-leaning Roosevelt Institute.
Original issue: June 6, 2025 9:14am EDT
