The nation’s unemployment rate plummeted to 6.3 percent last month, the lowest level in 5 1/2 years, as the number of new jobs soared to 288,000, the Labor Department reported Friday.
The most robust unemployment report since the end of the Great Recession showed a powerful bounceback from the depressed winter conditions that nearly snuffed out growth in the first quarter. But revisions also showed another 36,000 jobs were added during the winter months.
April’s blockbuster total of 288,000 new jobs was far above the 190,000 monthly average in the past year and reflected widespread strength in hiring from offices and retail outlets to construction and mining sites.
“Hot-diggety,” said Justin Wolfers, economics professor at the University of Michigan. “It’s a huge payroll report.”
Since some of the strength was a rebound from the anemic winter months, he suggested averaging the job gains of the last three months, which at 238,000 was still significantly above the economy’s performance last year.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.