April jobs up 211,000, unemployment rate falls to 4.4% 8:54 AM ET Fri, 5 May 2017 | 01:36 
 
 Job creation in April bounced back from a disappointing March, with nonfarm payrolls growing by 211,000 while the unemployment rate fell to 4.4 percent, its lowest since May 2007. 
 
 Economists surveyed by Reuters had been expecting payroll growth of 185,000 and the headline jobless rate to tick up one-tenth to 4.6 percent. The payroll increase nearly tripled the dismal March number. 
 
 Market experts believe the report likely cements an imminent interest rate hike. 
 
 "The market has sorely needed a shot of unambiguously positive 'hard' data," Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial, said in a statement. "This morning's employment report suggests the Fed will most certainly move in June." 
 
 Wages grew seven cents an hour to an annualized pace of 2.5 percent. 
 
 The unemployment rate dropped even as the labor force participation rate edged lower to 62.9 percent. The employment-to-population ratio increased to 60.2 percent, its best showing of 2017 and the highest level since February 2009. 
 
 "This just adds to the perception that it's going to be easier and easier to find a job if you want one these days," said Brian Coulton, chief economist at Fitch Ratings. "It's job security that causes people to ask for wage rises. If it's easier for them to get a job outside their company, they're more likely to push for higher wages." 
 
 An alternative reading on the unemployment rate that includes those not actively looking for jobs as well as those working part-time for economic reasons dropped to 8.6 percent from 8.9 percent in March, the best reading since November 2007. Those counted as not in the labor force swelled to 94.4 million but that was countered by an increase of 156,000 counted as employed, according to the household survey. ||||| Getty Images A busy labor market in the U.S. makes it easier for Americans to find jobs. Hiring likely accelerated in April to keep the unemployment rate near a decade low. 
 
 WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Hiring in the U.S. likely snapped back in April after disappointingly small gain in March, pointing to an economy that’s still strong enough to nudge the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates again within a few months. 
 
 Here’s what to watch in the government’s April employment report due on Friday. 
 
 April rebound 
 
 Economists polled by MarketWatch estimate the U.S. economy created 190,000 jobs month, bouncing back after a paltry 98,000 increase in March. The unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 4.5%. 
 
 The government’s employment report can be choppy from time to time, especially as winter turns into spring. Unusual weather patterns can delay some hiring or speed it up, most notably in industries whose workers mostly work outdoors, such as construction. 
 
 Also Read:Red flag: U.S. businesses see slump in productivity in early 2017 
 
 The more important measure is the trend in hiring. The U.S. had added an average of 178,000 jobs a month so far in 2017 — more than enough to keep downward pressure on the unemployment rate. The size of the workforce is growing about half as much a month. 
 
 The 3% pay hump 
 
 Hourly pay has been rising over the past two years as a dwindling pool of labor forces companies to pay workers more, but wages still aren’t growing as fast as they did during prior economic recoveries. 
 
 The rate of hourly pay rose 2.7% in the 12-month period ended in March. While that’s up from less than 2% in early 2015, it’s a few notches below the post-recession peak of 2.9% reached in December. 
 
 By contrast, wages typically rise 3% to 4% when the economy is firing on all cylinders. Economists predict annualized wage growth will remain around 2.7% in April. 
 
 
 
 ‘Real’ jobless rate 
 
 How can it be determined if the U.S. labor market is finally “normal” again? Watch the U6 unemployment rate. 
 
 The unemployment rate used by the government as the official measure, known as U3, is already quite low at 4.5%. The last time joblessness was significantly lower was in late 2000, when it dipped below 4% for the first time since 1970. 
 
 Yet “real” unemployment — the U6 rate — still has a fair way to fall to match the pre-recession bottom. At 8.9% in March, it’s almost a full percentage point higher than it before the U.S. slid into the last recession in late 2007. 
 
 Also Read: U.S. trade deficit with Mexico in goods highest since 2007 
 
 The official unemployment rate just counts jobless Americans actively looking for full-time work. The U6 rate includes people who can only find part-time gigs as well as those so discouraged they recently gave up looking for work. 
 
 A continued decline in the U6 rate would represent clear progress in getting most Americans back to work. 
 
 
 
 Building a better economy 
 
 A sure sign of economic health is rising home construction and sales. Builders have increased employment for seven straight months despite difficulty finding enough skilled workers. Most Americans are better off financially than they’ve been in years and more can afford to buy a home. 
 
 Economists look for a bigger increase in construction jobs after a small gain in March. 
 
 ||||| In this Nov. 20, 2015, photo, a UPS employee works inside the company's Worldport hub in Louisville, Ky. On Friday, May 5, 2017, the U.S. government issues the April jobs report. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) (Associated Press) 
 
 In this Nov. 20, 2015, photo, a UPS employee works inside the company's Worldport hub in Louisville, Ky. On Friday, May 5, 2017, the U.S. government issues the April jobs report. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — Hiring in the United States rebounded in April as employers added a brisk 211,000 jobs, a sign that the economy's slump in the first three months of the year could prove temporary. 
 
 The unemployment rate dipped to 4.4 percent — its lowest point in a decade — from 4.5 percent in March. 
 
 The figures suggest that businesses expect consumer demand to rebound after a lackluster first quarter, when Americans increased spending at the slowest pace in seven years, and will need more employees. 
 
 Still, average paychecks grew more slowly in April, increasing 2.5 percent over the past 12 months, below March's year-over-year gain. Typically, employers are forced to pay more as they compete for a smaller pool of unemployed workers. Hourly pay gains are usually closer to 3.5 percent in a strong economy. 
 
 Some evidence suggests that economic growth is rebounding in the current April-June quarter, with some economists forecasting that it could top a 3 percent annual rate, compared with the first quarter's 0.7 rate. Last quarter, consumers spent less in part because of low utility bills during an unseasonably warm winter. That's likely to prove a temporary restraint. 
 
 And the housing market is reaching new heights as home sales and construction march upward even though a limited number of properties are for sale. Sales of existing homes jumped in March to their highest level in more than a decade. 
 
 Still, average hourly pay has remained well below the roughly 3.5 percent annual pay gains typical of a healthy economy. Inflation has also picked up, eroding even that limited income growth. With the unemployment rate low, companies may eventually have to pay more to attract and keep employees. 
 
 One trend that could hold back pay gains would be a flood of job-seekers coming off the sidelines and looking for work. That would give businesses more potential employees to hire, thereby reducing the need to pay more. 
 
 Retail store chains, like Sears and Macy's, have been slashing jobs in the face of ferocious competition from Amazon.com and other e-commerce companies. That's transformed retail to a job-losing industry. Many traditional retailers are rapidly building up their own online storefronts and expanding their warehousing and logistics divisions. But those functions are less labor-intensive and are unlikely to fully offset the job losses at physical stores. 
 
 Factories have mostly recovered over the past six months from nearly two years of struggle. Plummeting oil prices had caused drilling firms to slash orders for steel pipe, machinery and other equipment. And weak growth overseas, plus a strong dollar, depressed exports. But oil and gas prices stabilized last fall. Growth is picking up in Europe and Japan and has stabilized in China. All that has helped lift factory output. ||||| It hasn’t always been this way in recent years but expect a strong nonfarm payrolls number this morning to buoy the stock market. 
 
 Solid first-quarter earnings have helped assure investors amid softer readings on economic growth, inflation and retail spending. The S&P 500 is just 0.3% below its all-time high hit in early March. 
 
 “Nothing matters more for the rally’s survival than a robust recovery,” says Jeremy Klein at FBN Securities. “Stocks will perform better in the wake of a good number than a bad one and vice versa.” 
 
 Traders will recall that for much of the post-financial crisis rally markets were in good-news-is-bad-news mode, since strong data meant that the Federal Reserve might pull back on stimulus efforts that supported the stock market. Now investors want to see growth that can back up the Fed's policy normalization efforts. 
 
 Alan Ruskin, the head of FX Research at Deutsche Bank, notes that an April payrolls figure between 150,000 and 250,000 Friday is consistent with two more interest rate increases in 2017, the first of these in June. 
 
 “With Fed expectations not that sensitive to the payrolls data, the follow-through reaction to the data will be muted, without a big surprise.”
– The latest jobs report might have President Trump tweet-boasting again. Employers added 211,000 jobs in April, more than expected, following a poor showing of just 79,000 in March. (The latter figure was revised downward from an already weak 98,000.) The unemployment rate, meanwhile, ticked down to 4.4% from 4.5%, the lowest point in a decade, reports the AP. The rate had been expected to hold steady or even rise a bit. The current figure means that the US is at or near what economists consider "full employment," notes the Wall Street Journal, meaning that pretty much anyone looking for a job could get one. "This just adds to the perception that it's going to be easier and easier to find a job if you want one these days," an analyst at Fitch Ratings tells CNBC, adding that it should in theory lead to raises. "If it's easier for (workers) to get a job outside their company, they're more likely to push for higher wages." The latest report shows that there's room for that to happen. Average hourly wages rose 7 cents in April to $26.19, up 2.7% from last month and 2.5% over the last year. That's seen as solid, but not great—when an economy is in full swing, wages typically rise between 3% and 4%, notes MarketWatch.