US NFP: April Hiring Remains Strong with 177,000 New Jobs. Stock Futures Shoot Up

A wild month of tariff games, rollercoaster stock fluctuations, and a lot of Presidential posts online didn’t weigh on employers’ efforts to add more headcount.

💪 Nonfarm Payrolls Top Expectations

• Employers — this one’s for you, you’re the real MVP. Despite April’s high-voltage market drama — from Trump’s tariff theatrics to a surprise GDP contraction and daily doses of policy uncertainty — hiring held up better than expected.
• The US economy added 177,000 nonfarm payrolls in April, outpacing economists’ forecasts for just 133,000 new jobs, according to the Labor Department’s NFP data USNFP, released Friday. The figure is down from March’s 228,000 gain (which was downwardly revised to 185,000), but still it was a healthy sign that businesses aren’t slamming the brakes — even with rising recession chatter.
• The unemployment rate held steady at 4.2%, right in line with expectations, offering more evidence that the labor market remains resilient — if no longer red-hot.

💸 Futures Rally on Surprise Strength

• Markets responded with a sigh of relief. S&P 500 futures jumped 1%, Nasdaq futures climbed 0.8%, and Dow futures leapt 360 points, or about 0.9%, as investors cheered the report’s not-too-hot, not-too-cold vibe. After a week dominated by geopolitical whiplash and a rough GDP reading, today’s print looked downright goldilocks.
• For context, earlier in the week, the Commerce Department said GDP shrank 0.3% in Q1 — a jarring reversal from the 2.4% expansion seen in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, weekly jobless claims rose to 241,000, and private-sector hiring data from ADP came in on the soft side. All that had investors bracing for a weak NFP print.

🧐 What It Means for the Fed and the Market

• Today’s better-than-expected hiring number may push back some of the market’s hopes for imminent rate cuts — but it also reassures traders that the economic floor hasn’t dropped out.
• Wage data and inflation metrics will still be the key focus for the Federal Reserve’s next move, but for now, the April jobs report offers a stabilizing note after weeks of chaos.
• With May’s trading already off to a good start, this print might just be some extra fuel the markets need.