Tariffs and International Trade Uncertainty Soar as U.S. April Employment Sees Sharp Slowdown

BlockBeats News, April 30th, ADP reported on Wednesday that the company significantly slowed down its hiring in April in response to the potential impact of President Trump's tariffs on U.S. trading partners. The private sector added only 62,000 jobs during the month, the smallest increase since July 2024, due to escalating uncertainty around the level of tariffs, the impact on hiring plans, and economic conditions. Wage growth also took a step back, with a 4.5% year-on-year increase for job holders staying in the same position, down 0.1 percentage point from March. However, job switchers saw an increase to 6.9%, up 0.2 percentage points. From an industry perspective, the leisure and hospitality sector saw the largest increase, adding 27,000 jobs. Other growing industries included trade, transportation, and utilities (21,000), financial activities (20,000), and construction (16,000). Education and health services saw a decrease of 23,000 positions, and information services saw a decrease of 8,000 positions. (Jin10)