Job Market is UP

In another sign that the recovery in the U.S. economy is taking hold, employers added significantly more jobs to payrolls in April, according to a government report.

There was a gain of 290,000 jobs in the month, up from a revised 230,000 jobs added in March. It was the largest number of jobs added to the labor force since March 2006.

After nearly two years of job losses, the economy has now added jobs in five of the last six months. With upward revisions for both March and February, there has been a gain of 573,000 jobs since the start of the year.

The report also includes a separate survey of households that it uses to estimate the unemployment rate, which increased to 9.9%. The rise in the unemployment rate is actually a sign of improving perception of labor market conditions. The increase was due to an uptick in job seekers who had previously been discouraged and dropped out of the job market. There was a jump of 805,000 workers returning to the labor force in April alone.

Broad-based gains: The job picture got a lift from the addition of 66,000 jobs by the U.S. Census Bureau, which is in the process of completing the once-in-a-decade headcount of the U.S. population.

But the gains went far beyond that one-time Census boost, as private sector employers added 231,000 jobs. And the gains were broad based, as nearly two-thirds of industries across the private sector added jobs rather than cutting staff.

• Manufacturing did exceptionally well, adding 44,000 jobs, the biggest one-month gain in the sector since August 1998.

• Construction added 14,000 jobs, the second straight month of gains after nearly three years of uninterrupted job losses in that battered sector.

• Retailers added 12,400 jobs.

• Leisure and Hospitality industries added 45,000 jobs on a seasonally adjusted reading, a sign that employers in those sectors see increased consumer demand.

• Temporary help services added 26,200 jobs, which economists see as an important sign of future hiring, since employers often take on temporary workers before they add permanent staff. Temp workers have now increased by 330,000 over the last seven months after roughly three straight years of job losses there.

Positive job growth is a welcome sight to us all, use this job growth momentum and find a job on Talent Exchange today.

Best Wishes,

Doug Smith
Director of Product Management, Talent Exchange