Whatever side of the political aisle one resides, there is no denying all Americans continue to benefit from the world’s hottest economy and job market.
Indeed, with an economic expansion already approaching a record 10th year since the last recession, the U.S. economy shows no signs of a slowdown after 263,000 new jobs were added in April, according to the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data released today.
Even more impressive, this huge increase in total nonfarm payroll employment – blowing away most economists’ predictions for the month – lowered America’s unemployment rate 0.2 percent to 3.6 percent overall.
This marks the lowest unemployment for U.S. workers since December 1969. Over the month, the number of unemployed persons decreased by 387,000 to 5.8 million.
Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates declined in April for adult men (3.4 percent), adult women (3.1 percent), Whites (3.1 percent), Asians (2.2 percent), and Hispanics (4.2 percent). The jobless rates for teenagers (13.0 percent) and Blacks (6.7 percent) showed little or no change.
The April job gains were broad based but notable job gains occurred in professional and business services, construction, health care, and social assistance.
To date, the longest expansion in U.S. history lasted ten years (from March 1991 to March 2001). The current economic expansion will match that milestone next month, and appears to be positioned to set an all-time U.S. economic record.
To read today's full Labor Statistics Report, use the following link:
