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In a sharply improved picture of the economy from a month ago, the better-than-expected employment data showed much stronger hiring in February and March than previously reported.
Data revisions recorded 114 000 more jobs were generated than originally thought during those two months, even as taxes rose and government spending tightened.
That put the monthly job creation numbers roughly in line with the average for the past year, when the jobless rate has fallen steadily, from 8,1 percent in April 2012 to the 7,5 percent level reported Friday.
The report put a sharply different spin on the overall picture of employment and the economy more broadly than just one month ago, when analysts were shocked by the Labour Department’s initial estimate of net jobs generated in March, a paltry 88 000.
Coupled with other data, the March report had suggested a spring stall in the economy, believed explainable by higher payroll and other taxes that took effect in January, and the sharp “sequester” federal spending cuts initiated on March 1.
But the big surprise in the report for April was the revision of the March jobs growth number to 138 000, as well as February’s, which gained 64 000 to 332 000.
April’s gains were all in the private sector, as government continued to shed jobs amid tough budget cuts.
Job creation was strongest in the professional and business services sector, tourism and entertainment, retail trade and health care, while industrial sector jobs shrank.
Average hours worked per week in the private sector slipped to 34,4 from 34,6 in March, a possible sign of weakness in the economy, as was a 278 000 rise in the number of people forced to work part time, to 7,92 million. The overall number of people counted as officially unemployed was little changed at 11,7 million.
“The message is that last month’s weaker-than-expected report was largely a false alarm; that is also the signal from jobless claims,” said Jim O’Sullivan, chief US economist at High Frequency Economics. — AFP.
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