Jobs, Labor Department | featured news

The job market plugged along steadily, and unemployment fell in April, according to new data out Friday, suggesting that the U.S. economy is still expanding. The nation added 165,000 jobs in April as the unemployment rate fell to 7.5 percent, from 7.6 percent in March, the Labor Department said on Friday. The news was particularly welcome after a mere 88,000 jobs were initially reported to have been added in March; the new report revised that estimate to a healthier 138,000, suggesting that the labor market isn't slumping as much as it had appeared.

U.S. employers added just 88,000 jobs in March, the fewest in nine months and a sharp retreat after a period of strong hiring. The slowdown may signal that the economy is heading into a weak spring. The Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate dipped to 7.6 percent, the lowest in four years, from 7.7 percent. But the rate fell only because more people stopped looking for work. People who are out of work are no longer counted as unemployed once they stop looking for a job.

In the wake of the controversial 7.8% unemployment rate reported by the U.S. Labor Department earlier this month, Gallup today said that its nonseasonally adjusted rate fell from 7.9% at the end of September to 7.3% in mid-October. That is a new low since Gallup began collecting employment data in January 2010.

The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits rose slightly in the latest week, indicating a labor market that remains in the doldrums. The Labor Department reported that new claims rose a seasonally-adjusted 4,000 to 367,000, while the four-week moving average, considered a more accurate gauge of labor market conditions, was flat at 375,000.

The government went back over its numbers and found something missing -- nearly 400,000 new jobs. In its annual revision to its employment data, the Labor Department said Thursday that 386,000 more jobs were created in the year ending in March than it originally had reported. The revision is a preliminary estimate, with a final figure coming in February.

U.S. employers posted the most job openings in four years in June, a positive sign that hiring may pick up. The Labor Department said Tuesday job openings rose to a seasonally adjusted 3.8 million in June, up from 3.7 million in May. That's the most since July 2008. Layoffs fell. The data follow Friday's report that said employers in July added the most jobs in five months. A rise in openings could signal better hiring in the coming months. It typically takes one to three months to fill a job.

The United States economy gained a net 69,000 jobs in May, the Labor Department said, a dismal showing as the unemployment rate rose to 8.2 percent.

The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment benefits suggests hiring is slowing. The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly applications dipped last week by 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 386,000. But that was only after the department revised up the previous week's data to show 8,000 more people applied for benefits than first estimated.

In yet another sign of a strengthening recovery, the United States added 227,000 net jobs in February, the third consecutive month of gains over 200,000. The unemployment rate was unchanged from 8.3 percent in January, the Labor Department reported Friday, as nearly a half million people who had been staying on the sidelines rejoined the search for work. The strong job growth numbers could bolster President Obama’s effort to make the case to voters that his economic policies are working.

A burst of hiring in December pushed the U.S. unemployment rate to its lowest level in nearly three years, giving the economy a boost at the end of 2011. The Labor Department said Friday that employers added a net 200,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate fell to 8.5 percent, the lowest since February 2009. The rate has dropped for four straight months