What to know about Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and the arson at his official residence

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has reopened to the public his official residence that was closed after an arsonist’s fire engulfed one of its wings. A former state police commissioner is studying the residence’s security and fundraising is in the works to help cover the millions of dollars in damage to the property.

The first public event took place Tuesday — an Easter egg hunt for children on the west lawn — nine days after the fire.

Shapiro said Jeffrey Miller, a former state police commissioner who went on to lead security for the NFL, is conducting a security review and that former governors and first ladies are raising money to help cover the cost to restore the damaged rooms.

Shapiro also said President Donald Trump called him to see how he was doing.

Shapiro has thanked police and firefighters for rescuing him and his family. While he said there were security failures, he also professed confidence in the state police's ability to protect him and improve security at the three-story brick Georgian-style residence.

“And I have confidence that they’re going learn from this experience and make our systems even tighter,” Shapiro said Tuesday.

Shapiro, who is Jewish and viewed as a potential White House contender for the Democratic Party in 2028, has been emotional about the fire. He fought back tears at his initial press conference when he said he and his wife Lori were “overwhelmed by the prayers and the messages of support” they’d received from across the U.S.

He also has said he is unbowed and will not live in fear. The attack came during the Jewish holiday of Passover, but Shapiro has declined to speculate on the arsonist’s motives or whether it was religiously motivated.

Shapiro expects to begin staying at the residence again in the coming days as workers tear out fire-damaged floors, walls and ceilings.

Cody Balmer, 38, has been jailed since turning himself in, on charges that include attempted homicide, arson, assault and burglary. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 28 to determine whether the case will go to trial. Balmer has not entered a plea.

The rooms he is accused of setting alight in the early hours of April 13 were where Shapiro’s family had held the Passover Seder just hours earlier.

The fire caused millions of dollars of damage, according to fire officials, but no injuries. State troopers roused Shapiro, his wife, kids and members of his extended family and evacuated them down a rear staircase to escape the blaze.

Balmer’s mother and brother say he suffers from mental illness, something that Balmer denied in his only court appearance. Authorities say Balmer expressed hatred for Shapiro and say they are investigating whether he was motivated by religious or political bias.

Police affidavits say Balmer was asked what he might have done had he encountered Shapiro while in the residence — and that he said he would have hit the governor with the hammer he carried that night.

Police have seized Balmer’s cellphones, lap top computer and digital hard drive and are examining them for signs of a motive. Balmer’s public defender, meanwhile, said Balmer will undergo an examination of his competency to stand trial.

The residence has a nearly 7-foot (2.1-meter) iron security fence, movement sensors on the grounds and video cameras ringing the property, which covers half a city block in Harrisburg along the Susquehanna River. It is bordered on three sides by public streets and on the fourth by an alleyway. State troopers provide security.

After Balmer allegedly scaled the fence from the alleyway around 2 a.m. on April 13, he tripped a movement sensor that prompted a trooper to investigate.

Balmer eluded the trooper in the darkness, crossed the grounds and used a hammer to smash a window that looked into dining areas where the governor typically entertains crowds, police say. Balmer ignited a beer bottle filled with gasoline and threw it inside, broke another adjacent window and, after crawling inside, ignited a second glass bottle filled with gasoline and threw it, police say.

Video cameras in the residence showed Balmer kicking open a doorway outside and slipping off into the night minutes later, police say.

Federal investigators aren’t commenting.

On the day of the arson, Shapiro and Pennsylvania State Police officials said they had been in touch with the FBI. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, who is Jewish, called for a federal hate crimes investigation.

Trump’s attorney general, Pam Bondi, described the arson as “absolutely horrific,” said she believes the alleged culprit “wanted to kill” Shapiro. She vowed to help state law enforcement by doing “anything we can to help convict the person who did this.”

Trump called Shapiro on Saturday.

“He was very gracious. He asked how Lori and the kids were doing. We talked for a couple minutes about what transpired at the residence and then we talked about for maybe the next 15 minutes or so about a whole host of other topics,” Shapiro said.

Follow Marc Levy on X at https://x.com/timelywriter.

Charred wood trim and brick are visible at the Pennsylvania governor's official residence after a man was arrested in the alleged arson that forced Gov. Shapiro, his family and guests to flee in the middle of the night on the Jewish holiday of Passover, Sunday, Apr. 13, 2025, in Harrisburg, Pa. (AP Photo/Marc Levy)

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro pauses during a news conference at the governor's official residence discussing the alleged arson that forced him, his family and guests to flee in the middle of the night on the Jewish holiday of Passover, Sunday, Apr. 13, 2025, in Harrisburg, Pa. (AP Photo/Marc Levy)

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro pauses during a news conference at the governor's official residence discussing the alleged arson that forced him, his family and guests to flee in the middle of the night on the Jewish holiday of Passover, Sunday, Apr. 13, 2025, in Harrisburg, Pa. (AP Photo/Marc Levy)

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro speaks during a news conference at the governor's official residence about a suspected arson fire that forced him, his family and guests to flee in the middle of the night on the Jewish holiday of Passover, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Harrisburg, Pa. (AP Photo/Marc Levy)

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro speaks during a news conference at the governor's official residence about a suspected arson fire that forced him, his family and guests to flee in the middle of the night on the Jewish holiday of Passover, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Harrisburg, Pa. (AP Photo/Marc Levy)

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro speaks during a news conference at the governor's official residence about a suspected arson fire that forced him, his family and guests to flee in the middle of the night on the Jewish holiday of Passover, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Harrisburg, Pa. (AP Photo/Marc Levy)

Shown is Pennsylvania governor's official residence in Harrisburg, Pa., Monday, April 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

The aftermath of a fire can be seen at Pennsylvania governor's official residence in Harrisburg, Pa., Monday, April 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Shown is Pennsylvania governor's official residence in Harrisburg, Pa., Monday, April 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Shown is Pennsylvania governor's official residence in Harrisburg, Pa., Monday, April 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Shown is Pennsylvania governor's official residence in Harrisburg, Pa., Monday, April 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

The aftermath of a fire can be seen at Pennsylvania governor's official residence in Harrisburg, Pa., Monday, April 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

The aftermath of a fire can be seen at Pennsylvania governor's official residence in Harrisburg, Pa., Monday, April 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Police tape cordons off an area outside Pennsylvania governor's official residence in Harrisburg, Pa., Monday, April 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

This image provided by Commonwealth Media Services shows damage after a fire at the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion while Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family slept inside on Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Harrisburg, Pa. (Commonwealth Media Services via AP)

This image provided by Commonwealth Media Services shows damage after a fire at the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion while Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family slept inside on Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Harrisburg, Pa. (Commonwealth Media Services via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) —

American employers added a better-than-expected 177,000 jobs in April as the job market showed resilience in the face of President Donald Trump's trade wars.

Hiring was down slightly from a revised 185,000 in March and came in above economists’ expectations for a modest 135,000. The unemployment rate remained at a low 4.2%, the Labor Department reported Friday.

Trump’s aggressive and unpredictable policies – including massive import taxes – have clouded the outlook for the economy and the job market and raised fears that the American economy is headed toward recession.

But Friday's report showed the job market remains solid. “The labor market refuses to buckle in the face of trade war uncertainty,’’ Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at fwdbonds, a financial markets research firm. “Politicians can count their lucky stars that companies are holding on to their workers despite the storm clouds forming that could slow the economy further in the second half of the year.’’

Transportation and warehousing companies added 29,000 jobs last month, suggesting that companies have been stocking up before essential, imported goods are hit with a wave of new tariffs, driving prices higher. Healthcare companies added nearly 51,000 jobs and bars, restaurants almost 17,000 and construction firms 11,000. Factories lost 1,000 jobs.

Labor Department revisions shaved 58,000 jobs from February and March payrolls.

Average hourly earnings ticked up 0.2% from March and 3.8% from a year ago, nearing the 3.5% that economists view as consistent with the 2% inflation the Federal Reserve wants to see.

The report showed that 518,000 people entered the labor force, and the percentage of those working or looking for work ticked up slightly.

Trump’s massive taxes on imports to the U.S. are likely to raise costs for Americans and American businesses that depend on supplies from overseas. They also threaten to slow economic growth. His immigration crackdown threatens to make it more difficult for hotels, restaurants and construction firms to fill job openings. By purging federal workers and cancelling federal contracts, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency risks wiping out jobs inside the government and out.

Trump’s policies have shaken financial markets and frightened consumers. The Conference Board, a business group, reported Tuesday that Americans’ confidence in the economy fell for the fifth straight month to the lowest level since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Still, Bill Adams, chief economist at Comerica Bank, called the jobs report “reassuringly normal. The fears of a softer labor market due to tariff uncertainty went unrealized last month ... There are signs that businesses are reining in plans for hiring and capital spending and that consumers are turning more cautious toward discretionary spending.’’

But Adams noted that those cautious signs come from surveys of businesses and consumers and have not showed up so far in actual economic data.

American workers have at least one thing going for them. Despite the uncertainty about fallout from Trump’s policies, many employers don’t want to risk letting employees go – not after seeing how hard it was to bring people back from the massive but short-lived layoffs of the 2020 COVID-19 recession.

“They laid millions of these people off, and they had a hell of a time getting them back to work,’’ Boston College economist Brian Bethune said before Friday's report came out. "So for now, the unemployment rate and the number of people filing claims for jobless benefits every week remain low by historical standards.

The federal government’s workforce fell by 9,000 on top of 17,000 job losses in February and March, Still, the full effect of Musk's DOGE cuts may not be showing up yet. For one thing, Bethune noted, job cuts orders by the billionaire’s DOGE are still being challenged in court. For another, some of those leaving federal agencies were forced into early retirement and don’t show up in the Labor Department’s count of the unemployed.

After the jobs numbers were released, Trump repeated his call for the Federal Reserve to lower its benchmark short-term interest rate, which it raised to combat inflation. Trump said on social media platform Truth Social that there is “NO INFLATION” and “employment strong.”

Yet as long as the job market remains healthy, the Fed will likely stay on the sidelines as it takes time to evaluate the impact of tariffs. Fed chair Jerome Powell has underscored that the duties are likely to push up prices in the coming months, making the central bank wary of the potential for higher inflation.

The Fed typically fights inflation with higher interest rates, so it is unlikely to cut its key short-term rate anytime soon. It might change course and reduce rates if layoffs spiked and unemployment rose, but Friday’s report suggests that isn’t happening yet.

AP Economics Writer Christopher Rugaber contributed to this story.

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