The US economy underperformed expectations as it added only 175,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in the month of April as the Federal Reserve seeks to cool inflation, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The unemployment rate also changed very little, remaining at 3.9 per cent. In addition, the bureau revised the number of jobs added in February down by 34,000 jobs but the number of jobs added in March by 12,000.

Health care led the growth of jobs in April, adding 56,000 jobs, while social assistance added 31,000 jobs.

The number is below what many expected. The ADP Employment Report projected that the US economy had added 192,000 jobs in April.

President Joe Biden hailed the number in a statement on Friday as a sign that the economy has rebounded from the economy he inherited amid the Covid-19 pandemic. He specifically highlighted the growth of women in the workforce.

“I had a plan to turn our country around and build our economy from the middle out and the bottom up,” he said. “Now we are seeing that plan in action, with well over 15 million jobs created since I took office, working-age women employed at a record high rate, wages rising faster than prices, and unemployment below 4 percent for a record 27 months in a row.”