April job numbers for the nation were released today and the results exceeded expectations as 244,000 jobs were added last month. So far this year the nation has added 768,000 jobs. Perhaps even more encouraging is the broad nature of the growth. Every sector except government saw employment increases. Retail trade led the way with 57,100 new jobs, followed by professional and business services with 51,000 jobs.
Despite the added jobs, the unemployment rate still increased in April, but that’s not all bad news. The unemployment rate rose because the size of the labor force increased faster than employment. This reflects the renewed optimism of people who had given up looking for work, but now — with positive economic news on the rise — are reentering the job market and giving it another try.
The economy is still on shaky ground as spikes in energy costs threaten the recovery, but it is certainly encouraging to see private sector businesses across the board actually bringing on more staff in significant numbers.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
