U.S. job losses moderate in April
By Greg Robb, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Job losses decelerated in April, suggesting that the nation's economic downturn may be short and shallow rather than long and severe.
Nonfarm payrolls fell by 20,000 -- far fewer than the average 80,000 jobs per month lost during the first quarter of the year, Labor Department data showed.
The decline was much less than expected. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expected job losses of 78,000.
April's jobless rate inched down to 5.0% from 5.1% in March. Economists had expected the jobless rate to tick higher to 5.2%.
The report suggests that the U.S. labor market didn't continue to deteriorate in April.
It may bolster the case that a pause by the Federal Reserve is in order following its aggressive campaign of lowering interest rates. But there will be another jobs report before the next Fed meeting at the end of June.
"For now, this employment trend is validating signals sent by the FOMC earlier this week to take a pause in rate cuts," wrote Stephen Gallagher, economist for Societe Generale. The report "lessens the fears of a deep, or prolonged downturn in the economy."
The construction and manufacturing sectors continued to shed jobs in April, but less-cyclical sectors such as education offset these declines.
There was little change to estimates for prior months. Payrolls growth in the previous two months was revised lower by a total of 8,000.
While jobs held up relatively well in April, other aspects of the employment report pointed toward a weak labor market.
The jobless rate fell simply because unemployed workers got jobs in April. Employment rose by 362,000. Unemployment fell by 189,000 to stand at 7.6 million.
Average hourly earnings increased a less-than-expected 1 cent, or 0.1%, bringing the year-over-year gain down to 3.4%.
"Based on the job report details, personal income growth for April will be very weak," wrote Ken Mayland, chief economist for ClearView Economics.
The average workweek fell six minutes to 33.7 hours. The factory workweek fell 18 minutes to 40.9 hours, and overtime in the sector was down by six minutes.
Total hours worked in the economy fell by 0.4%.
Sectors
Factory payrolls fell by 46,000, with the weakness concentrated in the production of durable goods.
Private-sector employment fell by 29,000 jobs in April. This was weaker than the 10,000 payroll jobs added in the month as estimated in the ADP national employment report that came out Wednesday.
Service-producing industries added 90,000 jobs last month, with stronger growth seen in health care, professional services, and leisure and hospitality industries. Temporary-help jobs rose by 39,000.
Construction jobs fell by 61,000 in April. Since its peak in September 2006, construction employment has fallen by 457,000 jobs. 
Greg Robb is a senior reporter for MarketWatch in Washington.Labels: the jobs report
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