IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
The U.S. economy added 160,000 non-agricultural jobs in April, a decent showing but a slowdown compared with the previous six months.
Nationwide, the unemployment rate remained at five percent last month, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s monthly jobs report, which was released Friday.
The department also revised down by 19,000 the number of jobs that were added in February and March.
While it’s never good to see employers ease up on hiring, this month’s report is hardly reason to panic: the solid pace of job growth during the past few months is probably a better indication of where the job market is headed long-term, and the economy only needs to add about 80,000 jobs a month to keep pace with population.
“I’ve been expecting a slowdown because the job market has been tightening a little bit, but I agree that it’s nothing to panic about,” Inland Empire economist John Husing said. “Full employment is a moving target, between four and five percent depending on how much education employers are asking for. Based on that I’d say we’re at full employment.”
Still, the April numbers are a bump in the road. The economy added at least 200,000 jobs in five of the previous six months.
The report did contain some good news: professional and business services added 65,000 jobs last month, health care employment increased by 44,000 and the financial sector added 20,000 jobs, according to the report.
