US economy beats forecasts with 115,000 new jobs added in April; pound and UK bonds stronger as Starmer pledges to stay on as PM – business live

US non-farm payrolls rose 115,000 in April, well above the 62,000 consensus, but the print comes with a softer underbelly: March was revised up to 185,000 and February revised sharply lower to -156,000, leaving February/March combined 16,000 jobs below prior estimates. Federal government employment is now down 348,000, or 11.5%, from its October 2024 peak, while gains were concentrated in health care, transportation/warehousing and retail.