Job Gains Trailing Forecasts Add to U.S. Slowdown Concern

American employers in April added the fewest number of jobs in six months and wages stagnated, adding to concern the almost three-year-old economic expansion is cooling.

The 115,000 increase in payrolls was less than forecast and followed a revised 154,000 gain in March that was larger than initially estimated, Labor Department figures showed yesterday in Washington. The median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey called for a 160,000 advance. Unemployment fell to a three-year low of 8.1 percent as people left the labor force.