Economy Adds 290,000 Jobs in April

Washington, DC, May 7, 2010--The U.S. economy added 290,000 jobs in April, which was much better than economists expected.

It was the biggest gain since March 2006.

Excluding Census workers, 224,000 nonfarm jobs were created, with the unemployment rate edging up to 9.9% from 9.7%, the Labor Department reported Friday.

Economists expected the economy to add 185,000 jobs, with the jobless rate holding steady at 9.7%.

The data for February was also revised to show a 39,000 increase in nonfarm jobs, compared to an originally reported decline of 14,000.

Job gains in March were also revised up to 230,000 from 162,000.  from 162,000.