April brings a loss in U.S. jobs that we can all feel a little better about.
I won’t lie; I’m feeling somewhat at ease after reading the latest employment situation report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics this morning. Sure, the country lost 20,000 positions in April. And yeah, maybe the construction and manufacturing sectors are sinking faster than the toddlers who leap defiantly into the deep end of the swimming pool without their bubbles on. But after suffering through a combined loss of close to 240,000 jobs in the months of January, February, and March of this year; America’s going to take what it can get.
So thank you, month of April, for making the dwindling payroll totals a little easier to stomach on this Friday afternoon.
The total number of unemployed persons in the U.S. now sits at 7.6 million, compared with 6.8 million at this time last year. The overall unemployment rate in April of 2007 was 4.5 percent, whereas this past April’s unemployment rate stagnated around 5.0 percent. So a year has left a lot to desire. Total nonfarm payroll employment for the nation now comes in at just above 137.8 million.
As a whole, the health care sector added 37,000 jobs in April, with the biggest additions coming in popular subcategories like ambulatory health care services and hospitals. Professional and technical services contributed a surprising 27,000 positions as well. Computer systems design (+10,000 jobs) and accounting and bookkeeping services (+9,000 jobs) both played a crucial role in this industry’s growth last month. Despite a significant contribution from food services (+18,000 positions), this sector has consistently been experiencing slower growth over the past several months.
The country’s employment losses were, in a word, typical. Construction dropped another 61,000 jobs. The industry is approaching a loss of nearly 500,000 positions since its peak in the fall of 2006. The manufacturing segment cut close to 50,000 jobs in April, most notably in durable goods manufacturing. Retail trade also declined by 27,000 positions.
In less dramatic news, the average workweek for production and nonsupervisory workers was down by 0.1 hour to 33.7 hours, while our average hourly wages increased by only one cent (compared with six cents in February and March). Over the past 12 months, the country’s average weekly earnings have risen by 3.1 percent.