The WSJ reports,"U.S. payroll growth was the strongest since January 2012. Gains were broad-based, led by professional and business services (including temporary workers, management and computer systems design), retail trade, food services, construction, health care and mining. Despite signs that the housing market is faltering, construction employment is up by 189,000 over the past year, with almost three-quarters of the gain occurring in the last six months, the Labor Department said".
"Unemployment: The unemployment rate dropped to its lowest level since September 2008. But the big decline isn’t all good news. The Labor Department’s figures, obtained by a separate survey of households, showed the labor force shrank by 806,000 and the number of employed people fell by 73,000. The labor force participation rate was down to 62.8%, around a three-decade low. People are dropping out of the workforce. That’s been a concern for Federal Reserve officials, who worry that too many Americans have become frustrated with a slow recovery and simply dropped out of the work force".
"U-6: The unemployment figure only captures those who have a job or are actively looking for work. A broader measure of joblessness, known as the “U-6,” accounts for people who have stopped looking for work as well as people working part-time for economic reasons. That number dropped to 12.3% from 12.7%".
"Part-timers: The Fed is also monitoring the number of part-timers. In April, almost 7.5 million were working part time but would have preferred a full-time job, a very slight increase from the prior month. The figure remains relatively high, suggesting there is still quite a bit of slack in the labor market".
"Revisions: February and March payrolls were revised up by a combined 36,000. Monthly job gains have averaged 238,000 over the past three months. In the 12 months prior to April, employment growth averaged 190,000, the Labor Department said".
"Earnings and Work Week: Neither the work week nor wages budged. Taken together, the figures show how much money workers are taking home each week, a key metric for consumer spending''".
