Ahead of today’s anticipated payrolls report, our prelude speculated on the extent of the anticipated slowdown, questioning whether Yellen had potentially leaked a weaker number to Japan to avert unnecessary intervention expenditures.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) just revealed that the US added a mere 175,000 jobs in April, marking a significant drop of nearly 50% from the upwardly revised 315,000, representing the lowest figure since October 2023.

As is customary, previous data underwent downward revisions, with February’s total nonfarm payroll employment being revised down by 34,000, from +270,000 to +236,000, while March saw an upward revision of 12,000, from +303,000 to +315,000. Consequently, the combined employment for February and March is now 22,000 lower than initially reported.

The Household survey echoed the dismal sentiment, indicating a mere 25,000 job additions in April, a stark contrast to the 498,000 in March.

The bleak picture extends further, with not only payrolls experiencing a significant miss, but also an unexpected rise in the unemployment rate, climbing from 3.8% to 3.9%, the highest since January 2022, contrary to expectations of a static reading.

While the unemployment rate for some demographics showed marginal fluctuations, the participation rate held steady at 62.7%.

Moreover, wage growth softened, with average hourly earnings edging up by 0.2% month-over-month, falling short of the anticipated 0.3% increase and down from the previous month’s 0.3%. Annually, earnings saw a 3.9% uptick, down from 4.1% last month and below the estimated 4.0%.

President Trump addressed the horrific job numbers on his Truth Social platform just moments ago.

HORRIBLE JOB NUMBERS JUST ANNOUNCED. A BIG MISS FROM FAKE ESTIMATES. THEY SHOULD HAVE ASKED ME TO GIVE THE FORECAST. BIDEN IS DESTROYING OUR COUNTRY!!!