The April jobs report showed the U.S. labor market remains robust, with more than a quarter million new jobs added to the economy last month as the unemployment rate fell to match its lowest level since May 1969.
The economy added 253,000 nonfarm payroll jobs last month, with the unemployment rate unexpectedly dropping to 3.4%, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed Friday.
Economists had expected the report to show nonfarm payrolls rose by 185,000 last month while the unemployment rate was forecast to rise to 3.6%.
Here are the key numbers from the report compared to estimates from Bloomberg:
- Nonfarm payrolls: plus-253,000 vs. plus-185,000 expected
- Unemployment rate: 3.4% vs. 3.6% expected
- Average hourly earnings, month-on-month: plus-0.5% vs. plus-0.3% expected
- Average hourly earnings, year-on-year: plus-4.4% vs. plus-4.2% expected
Friday’s jobs report also showed wage growth remained stronger than forecasted in April, with wages rising 4.4% over the prior year, an acceleration from the gains seen in March.
Employment gains in March, however, were revised lower to show 165,000 jobs were created during the month, 71,000 fewer than previously reported. February’s job gains were also revised lower – to 248,000 from 326,000 – making job growth over that two-month stretch lower than previously reported by 149,000.
With these revisions, job gains over the last six months have averaged 290,000.
Click here to read the full report from Miles Udland, the head of news at Yahoo Finance.
