Rick Santelli from CNBC praised the recent jobs report that far surpassed economists’ predictions.
In April, U.S. companies added 177,000 jobs, beating the estimated 133,000 jobs, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Santelli noted that this report, which also included data on unemployment and year-over-year earnings, is considered “good news.”
“Here we go! The jobs report for April is out, showing non-farm payrolls up by 177,000!” Santelli mentioned on “Squawk Box.” “We expected, as Joe [Kernen] highlighted, around 133,000. This 177,000 is the second best of the year, after a previous 228,000. Adjusting for the past two months, that number drops to 185,000 because we need to factor in a decrease of 58,000.”
The unemployment rate held steady at 4.2%, with average hourly earnings for non-farm payroll workers rising by 6 cents since March. Additionally, the average workweek remained at 34.3 hours, unchanged from the previous month.
“Now, focusing on the big three. The unemployment rate stays at 4.2%. Average monthly earnings for the month are expected to improve—up by three-tenths, but that’s slightly below expectations. To find a smaller increase, you’d need to go back to August 2023. On an annual basis, earnings rose just one-tenth, at 3.8%, when we were looking for 3.9%. So, 3.8% is reflective of what we’ve seen in the past. And regarding hours worked, the 34.3 hours is positive! We ticked up from our forecast of 34.2.”
Santelli also highlighted the labor force participation rate, which climbed to 62.6 percent.
Democrats have been asserting that Trump harmed the economy with reciprocal tariffs on foreign nations, though those tariffs are currently paused for 90 days. Alongside the latest job figures, the consumer price index (CPI) saw a rise of 2.4% in March, which was below economists’ expectations.
