United States employers managed to add 428,000 jobs during April 2022. Economists are considering it a positive sign amid high inflation, tight labor market and concerns regarding economic slowdown. Moreover, the unemployment rate stood at 3.6% compared to March’s unemployment rate of 3.5%.
Better than expected job numbers
Labor Department’s jobs report showed that the U.S. employers posted another solid month of job growth. The actual added jobs are higher than the Dow Jones estimate of 400,000 jobs in April. “The job market is proving to be a key source of resilience for the economy. Job creation will eventually settle into a slower pace as businesses feel the pinch of soaring inflation and tighter financial conditions, but gains will stay healthy. We think the economy has enough strength to create over 4 million jobs this year.” Oren Klachkin, a lead U.S. economist at Oxford Economics expressed his views regarding last month’s job numbers.
Unemployment rate at 3.6%
The economy’s hiring gains have been strikingly consistent in the face of the worst inflation in four decades. Non-farm employers have consistently managed to add 400,000 plus jobs per month since September last year. However, the number of people in the labor force declined in April by 363,000. This is a first decline since September 2021. Unemployment has slightly increased to 3.6% as compared to last month. Moreover, the labor force participation rate, a key measure of worker engagement fell by 0.2 percentage points for the month to 62.2%.
Solid job growth in leisure & hospitality sector
Leisure and hospitality sector again led job growth by adding 78,000 jobs. This sector jobs were adversely affected by COVID-19. However, it is now on path of steady recovery. The unemployment rate fell to 4.8% in April from its peak of 39.3% in April 2020. In addition, manufacturing added 55,000 jobs, transportation and warehousing added 52,000 jobs, professional and business services added 41,000 jobs. Moreover, financial activities added 35,000 jobs and healthcare sector managed to add 34,000 jobs. The retail sector also depicted solid growth and added 29,000 jobs.
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