A new jobs report is out, and despite rising oil prices, growing geopolitical tensions, and uncertainty tied to the war in Iran,

America's labor market is still showing surprising resilience.

I'm Kathy Fedke, and this is real estate news for investors.

This is Real Estate News with Kathy Fedke.

According to the latest numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. economy added 115,000 jobs in April.

That beat expectations by a lot.

The unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%.

According to reporting from the New York Times, businesses largely shrugged off rising gas prices and global uncertainty tied to the conflict in Iran.

And that's significant because if energy prices stay high and consumers start pulling back on spending, economists say job growth could slow in the months ahead. But for now,

employers appear to be holding steady. In fact, April marked the second straight month of stronger

hiring. March was also revised higher to 185,000 jobs. That said, the bigger picture is still mixed.

Over the last three months, job growth has averaged just 48,000 jobs per month. That's a much slower pace than what we've seen in healthier expansion periods. And underneath the headline numbers, there are some signs of strain. The labor force shrank in April. The number of unemployed workers moved higher, and the number of Americans working part-time because they can't find full-time work jumped by $445,000 to $4.9 million.

For real estate investors, that matters a lot. Housing demand depends on consumer confidence, job stability, and wage growth. And while

wages did rise, average hourly earnings increased just 0.2% in April, with annual age growth now at 3.6%.

Job growth also remains highly concentrated. Health care and social assistance accounted for nearly half of all job

creation last month, adding roughly 54,000 jobs. Transportation, warehousing, retail, and hospitality

also added workers. But some higher-paying sectors moved the other direction. The information

sector, which includes many tech companies,

lost 13,000 jobs. Finance cut another 11,000. Some economists are watching closely to see whether

automation and artificial intelligence may begin reshaping hiring in those industries. At the same

time, layoffs remain historically low.

Companies still appear reluctant to let workers go, even as many remain cautious about expanding

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