Washington, DC, May 7--Payrolls grew at a rapid pace for a second month in a row, driving the unemployment rate lower and suggesting that the "jobless recovery" has finally bloomed into a real recovery.
Nonfarm business payrolls grew by a net 288,000 jobs in April, raising the total to 1.1 million over the last eight months, the Labor Department said Friday. The government also reported 66,000 more jobs were created during March and February than initially estimated.
The unemployment rate, meanwhile, dropped a tenth of a percentage point to 5.6% in April.
Economists had expected payrolls to grow by only 150,000 jobs and for the unemployment rate to remain stagnant, according to a survey by Dow Jones Newswires and CNBC.
Many economists now expect the economy to generate about 200,000 jobs a month for the remainder of the year--an expectation that, if realized, would go a long way toward fulfilling the White House's much-derided prediction of a 2.6 million increase in jobs this year.
Over the last month, moreover, virtually all labor-market indicators have suggested the job-market recovery has taken root. Last week, for example, the number of workers filing first-time applications for unemployment benefits dropped to 315,000--the lowest level since the week before the 2000 presidential election.
The Labor Department said job growth in April was "widespread for the second consecutive month." The service-producing industry added 246,000 jobs. The professional and business-services industry added 123,000 jobs; within that category, 35,000 of the job gains were temporary-help positions. Temporary-help jobs have grown by 261,000 over the last year.
The manufacturing industry added 21,000 jobs, marking the biggest increase in nearly four years. The construction industry added 18,000 jobs, down from 65,000 in March. The leisure and hospitality industry added 36,000, while government jobs increased by 8,000.
The jobs growth coincided with a small increase in average hourly earnings, which rose five cents, or 0.3%, to $15.59 in March. The average work week held steady at 33 hours and 42 minutes.
