April jobs report: Hiring picks up steam
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The jobs recovery picked up speed in April, as business payrolls swelled and the unemployment rate rose as more people returned to the workforce.
The economy added 244,000 jobs in the month, the Labor Department reported Friday. That＇s up from the 221,000 jobs gained in March. Economists surveyed by CNNMoney were expecting a slight slowdown to a gain of just 185,000 jobs.
Job growth has been strong since the beginning of the year, with 768,000 jobs added since January. And Friday＇s report also showed that 46,000 more jobs were added in February and March than previously thought.
Businesses added 268,000 jobs in April, bringing private sector hiring so far this year to 854,000. It＇s the strongest month for business hiring since February 2006, nearly two years before the start of the recession.
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But while businesses continued to hire, government staffing fell by 24,000 jobs in the month, with most of the cuts coming at the state and local government level.
The unemployment rate edged up to 9.0%, ending a streak of four straight months of declines. Economists had forecast it would remain unchanged at 8.8%.
The rate often increases as the job market improves and previously discouraged workers return to labor force. An additional 113,000 people who were not counted among the unemployed in March, re-entered the labor force in April.
"It＇s ironic, but a rising unemployment rate in this situation is not a bad thing," said Tig Gilliam, president of the North American unit of job placement firm Adecco. |
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