U.S. Job Gains Rebound; Unemployment Falls to Pre-Crisis Low
- Payrolls rise more-than-expected 211,000, jobless rate at 4.4%
- Wages are below forecast at 2.5% year-over-year increase
U.S. Adds 211K Jobs in April, Jobless Rate Falls to 4.4%
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U.S. payroll gains rebounded in April by more than forecast and the jobless rate unexpectedly fell to 4.4 percent, signaling that the labor market remains healthy and should support continued increases in consumer spending.
The 211,000 increase followed a 79,000 advance in March that was lower than previously estimated, a Labor Department report showed Friday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 190,000 gain. While the unemployment rate is now the lowest since May 2007, wages were a soft spot in the report, climbing 2.5 percent from a year earlier.