The good news however is that the unemployment rate remained at 5%. Over the last 12 months, wages are up 2.5 percent, well ahead of the pace of inflation.
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The average workweek for private-sector workers was rose by 0.1 hour to 34.5 hours in April. April actually saw a nice bounce in wages, which grew 2.5% annually.
But the interruption in job growth and labor force participation last month could lead the Federal Reserve to pause as it considers whether and when to push short-term interest rates higher again. And the number of part-time workers who prefer full-time jobs fell by 161,000, helping push down a broader measure of unemployment that includes that group, the jobless, and discouraged workers who have given up looking to 9.7% from 9.8%.
Gains in construction employment slowed sharply, with the sector adding 1,000 jobs in April, after home building showed some signs of fatigue last month.
Friday’s report from the Labor Department was weaker than most economists had predicted.
While hiring last month was less, there was an improvement in wage gains.
James Smith, developed markets economist at ING, said it was “unlikely to change too many minds” among rate-setters on the timing of the next rate hike. Statistics Canada said while the Manitoba economy posted a net loss of 3,000 jobs during the month, it had little impact on the jobless rate because 2,300 workers also dropped out of the provincial labour force. The April jobs report is not almost as disappointing as the GDP numbers, but if the trend continues it might spark real worries of a slowdown. Late last month, for example, the government reported that the economy barely expanded in the first quarter.
Estimates for payroll gains in March and February were revised downward, though, a total of 19,000 to 233,000 and 208,000, respectively.
The US Dollar fell in the North American trading session following the news that the US Economy added 160,000 new jobs in April, the smallest amount in seven months.
The data suggested that gains from the prior two months suggesting the jobs market was pulling back and absorbing a large number of long-time dropouts were possibly overstated.
Hiring in the manufacturing and construction industries was basically flat. “Employers are becoming more cautious as economic growth remains moderate and profits decline”.
Japan’s economy contracted in the final quarter of past year, though its unemployment rate is also below the United States’.
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Average hourly earnings increased in April by 8 cents to $25.53, following an increase of 6 cents the previous month.
