April 2018 Jobs Report
Unemployment Rate: 3.9 percent
Jobs Created: 164,000
Employment and Unemployment
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The Department of Labor reported that the unemployment rate in April fell to 3.9 percent, a level last seen in December 2000. The decrease ends a six-month stretch at 4.1 percent.
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For April, the report shows an increase of 164,000 nonfarm jobs. Sectors with job gains include manufacturing (24,000), mining (8,000), and health care (24,000).
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The unemployment rate for African-Americans fell to 6.6 percent, the lowest rate on record.
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The U.S. has created 799,000 new jobs since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act became law and 3,339,000 new jobs since President Trump was elected in November 2016.
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The U-6 rate, which measures both unemployed and underemployed workers, decreased to 7.8 percent. It is 0.8 percent lower than April of last year.
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By the U-6 measure, 12.7 million Americans are unemployed. These are people who are unemployed (6.3 million), want work but have not looked for a job recently (1.4 million), or are working part time because they cannot find full-time employment (5.0 million).
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The number of long-term unemployed, those unemployed for 27 weeks or more, was 1.3 million, about 29,000 less than in March. They account for 20 percent of the unemployed.
Labor Force Participation
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The labor force participation rate is 62.8 percent, nearly the same as in March and below the pre-recession rate of 66 percent.
Wages
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In April, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 4 cents to $26.84. It is a 67-cent, or 2.6 percent, gain from a year ago.
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