By Rex Nutting, MarketWatch
Deflating fears of a new soft patch in the economy, U.S. businesses created a larger-than-expected 274,000 jobs in April, the Labor Department reported Friday.
The unemployment rate remained at 5.2%, while average hourly wages rose by 5 cents to $16, or 0.3%. Hourly wages are up 2.7% in the past year.
“The data are much stronger than expected all the way around and should put the slowdown scenario under suspicion,” wrote analysts for ActionEconomics.
The average workweek increased by two-tenths of an hour to 33.9 hours, the highest since September 2002.
Total hours worked in the economy increased by 0.9%, marking the biggest increase in eight years. The growth in hours worked is equivalent to adding 1.2 million workers to payrolls. Read the full report.
April’s jobs report was much stronger than anticipated on Wall Street. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had been looking for payroll gains of about 194,000. See Economic Calendar.
For this complete story, please visit More Jobs than Expected Created in April.
