By Peter Navarro | RealClearMarkets | May 8, 2026
The April jobs report delivered another reminder that the American economy is stronger than the professional pessimists, Wall Street forecasters, and Washington spreadsheet jockeys keep insisting.
Nonfarm payrolls rose by 115,000 in April, nearly double the consensus expectation of roughly 65,000. Private payrolls did even better, rising by 123,000 against expectations closer to 75,000. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.3 percent.
That is the key point. The Trump economy is adding enough jobs to keep the labor market healthy without generating the wage-price spiral that haunted the Biden years.
This report is not a blowout. It is better than that. It is a disciplined labor-market report: solid private-sector hiring, contained wage growth, stable unemployment, and continued evidence that the bloated federal payroll is being brought under control.