The U.S. Economy Added 428,000 Jobs in April, Unemployment at 3.6%, But Participation Rate FellJohn Carney 6 May 2022
The U.S. economy added 428,000 jobs in April and the unemployment rate held steady at 3.6 percent, the Department of Labor said Friday.
Economists had expected the economy to add 400,000 jobs and the unemployment rate to come in unchanged from the prior month at 3.6 percent. The range of forecasts by economists surveyed by Econoday was between a gain of 300,000 to a gain of 500,000.
The labor force participation rate unexpectedly declined to 62.2 percent from 62.4 percent.
The economy added jobs at a breakneck pace in the first three months of the year despite the economy contracting 1.4 percent. Employers brought on nearly 1.7 million new workers in the first quarter, an average of 562,000 a month. At the end of March, there were a record 11.5 million job openings and a record 4.5 million workers voluntarily left their jobs, usually a sign that they expect to easily find better-paying work elsewhere.
The U.S. economy rebounded from the pandemic much faster than expected and faster than economies around the world. The labor market, in particular, quickly recovered much of the damage done by 2020’s lockdowns and social distancing, with the unemployment rate dropping much faster than expected. Demand for goods soared as American incomes were pumped up with stimulus money from various government programs and social distancing rules left people bereft of many of the leisure services activities–sports, concerts, travel, movies–that typically would have drained bank accounts.
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https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2022/05/06/april-jobs/
