Business
African American unemployment dips slightly as U.S. economy adds 165,000 jobs in April
The unemployment rate has fallen 0.4 percentage point since the start of the year, though it remains high. The Federal Reserve has said it plans to keep short-term interest rates at record lows at least until unemployment falls to 6.5 percent.
The hiring last month was broad-based. The only sectors of the economy that cut jobs were construction and government.
Some higher-paying sectors added workers. Professional and technical services, which includes accounting, engineering and architecture, added 23,000 jobs. Education and health services added 44,000.
But some of the bigger job gains were in lower-paying fields, such as hotels and restaurants, which added 45,000 jobs, and retail, which added 29,000. Temporary help firms gained 31,000 positions.
The job growth is occurring while the U.S. economy is growing modestly but steadily. It expanded at a 2.5 percent annual rate in the January-March quarter, fueled by the strongest consumer spending in two years.
The global economy, by contrast, is slowing. The European Union warned Friday, for example, that the 17 countries that use the Euro currency will shrink by a collective 0.4 percent this year. And unemployment across the Eurozone is expected to hit an average of 12.2 percent. In Greece and Spain, it’s forecast to reach 27 percent.
In April, more Americans said they had part-time jobs even though they wanted full-time work. That figure rose 278,000 to 7.9 million, reversing a steep drop the previous month.
