Payroll employment increases by 164,000 in April; unemployment rate edges down to 3.9% [View all]

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Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Payroll employment increases by 164,000 in April; unemployment rate edges down to 3.9%

Economic News Release USDL-18-0683

Employment Situation Summary

Transmission of material in this news release is embargoed until 8:30 a.m. (EDT) Friday, May 4, 2018.

Technical information:
Household data: [phone] * [e-mail] * www.bls.gov/cps
Establishment data: [phone] * [e-mail] * www.bls.gov/ces

Media contact: [phone] * [e-mail]


THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION -- APRIL 2018


Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 164,000 in April, and the unemployment rate edged down to 3.9 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred in professional and business services, manufacturing, health care, and mining.

Household Survey Data

In April, the unemployment rate edged down to 3.9 percent, following 6 months at 4.1 percent. The number of unemployed persons, at 6.3 million, also edged down over the month. (See table A-1.)
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Both the labor force participation rate, at 62.8 percent, and the employment-population ratio, at 60.3 percent, changed little in April. (See table A-1.)
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Establishment Survey Data

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 164,000 in April, compared with an average monthly gain of 191,000 over the prior 12 months. In April, job gains occurred in professional and business services, manufacturing, health care, and mining. (See table B-1.)

In April, employment in professional and business services increased by 54,000. Over the past 12 months, the industry has added 518,000 jobs.

Employment in manufacturing increased by 24,000 in April. Most of the gain was in the durable goods component, with machinery adding 8,000 jobs and employment in fabricated metal products continuing to trend up (+4,000). Manufacturing employment has risen by 245,000 over the year, with about three-fourths of the growth in durable goods industries.
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In April, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 4 cents to $26.84. Over the year, average hourly earnings have increased by 67 cents, or 2.6 percent. Average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees increased by 5 cents to $22.51 in April. (See tables B-3 and B-8.)

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for February was revised down from +326,000 to +324,000, and the change for March was revised up from +103,000 to +135,000. With these revisions, employment gains in February and March combined were 30,000 more than previously reported. (Monthly revisions result from additional reports received from businesses and government agencies since the last published estimates and from the recalculation of seasonal factors.) After revisions, job gains have averaged 208,000 over the last 3 months.

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The Employment Situation for May is scheduled to be released on Friday, June 1, 2018, at 8:30 a.m. (EDT).

Read more: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

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Previously at DU:

Payroll employment edges up by 103,000 in March; unemployment rate unchanged at 4.1%
https://upload.democraticunderground.com/10142031156

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I can't find The Wall Street Journal.'s live blog.

5 Things to Watch in the April Jobs Report
https://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2018/05/03/5-things-to-watch-in-the-april-jobs-report-4/

Economists expect job growth to rebound and unemployment to fall to 4%
By Josh Mitchell

May 3, 2018 10:39 am ET

The Labor Department releases its monthly snapshot of the nation's labor market Friday. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expect it to show employers created 195,000 jobs in April and that the unemployment rate fell to 4% for the first time since December 2000. Here are five things to look for in the report.

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ETA: here it is. The commentary is worth reading.

April Jobs Report: Everything You Need to Know
https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/april-2018-jobs-report-analysis

Last Updated May 4, 2018 at 8:42 am ET

Join us as we dig into the April jobs report. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expect it to show employers created 195,000 jobs in April and the unemployment rate fell to 4% for the first time since December 2000.