211,000 jobs added in April

The Latest From the BLS Employment Report:

Job creation in April soared to 211,000 while the unemployment rate fell to 4.4 percent, its lowest since the recession. So far this year, employers have added an average of 174,000 jobs. The average hourly earnings of private-sector workers grew 2.5 percent in the last year. This marks steady growth after a lackluster March. The boost in jobs growth confirmed that the tepid March numbers were a weather-related aberration, said Tony Bedikian, head of global markets for Citizens Bank. The solid April jobs report solidifies that there will be another interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve in June, economists said Friday.

“The report virtually cements the odds of a June rate hike. Something dramatic has to happen to persuade the Fed not to move,” said Sal Guatieri, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets.

Economists’ predictions

Economists predicted a payroll growth of 185,000 and the jobless rate to tick up one-tenth to 4.6 percent. The payroll increase nearly tripled from last month’s numbers, coming in at 211,000. Monthly job gains at the current pace should eventually help push up wages.

211,000 jobs added in April

Numbers are seasonally adjusted. Source: BLS.gov

This Month’s Jobs Report

Let’s break down the numbers from this month’s jobs report

In April, hourly wages increased by $0.07 to $26.19 per hour, following a 2 cent increase in March. This brings the year-over-year wage percentage increase to 2.5 percent. The unemployment rate saw a slight downtick to 4.4 percent.

BLS.gov cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov.