WASHINGTON, DC—US employment rose by 288,000,and the unemployment rate dropped by 0.4 of a percentagepoint to 6.3% last month, theUS Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Fridaymorning. Sectors posting job growth were wide ranging, with gainsin professional and business services, retail trade, food servicesand construction.
The report follows a disconcerting one from the CommerceDepartmentthat the US economy grew at a seasonallyadjusted annual rate of 0.1% in the first quarter—a far cry fromthe 1.2% increase that Wall Street had been predicting. It has beensuggested that the anemic growth was due to the harsh winterweather in the first three months of the year, a theory that gainscurrency with this morning's job report.
The Labor Department also reported that the number of unemployedpersons decreased by 733,000. That measure, alongwith the unemployment rate, had shown little movement over theprior four months. Job growth has averaged 190,000 per month overthe prior 12 months.
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Erika Morphy
Erika Morphy has been writing about commercial real estate at GlobeSt.com for more than ten years, covering the capital markets, the Mid-Atlantic region and national topics. She's a nerd so favorite examples of the former include accounting standards, Basel III and what Congress is brewing.
