Posted May 7, 2010
Economy adds jobs, but unemployment rises
Employment rose by 290,000 in April, with gains in several major industries.
However, the unemployment rate edged up to 9.9 percent according to information released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The reason the unemployment rate rose despite adding nearly 300,000 jobs is because 805,000 job seekers entered the job market during the month.
Manufacturing added 44,000 jobs in April. Since December, factory employment has
risen by 101,000. Over the month, gains occurred in several durable goods indus-
tries, including fabricated metals (9,000) and machinery (7,000). Employment also
grew in nondurable goods manufacturing (14,000).
Mining added 7,000 jobs in April, with most of the increase in support activities
for mining. Since last October, mining has added 39,000 jobs.
In April, construction employment edged up (14,000), following an increase of 26,000
in March. Over the month, nonresidential building and heavy construction added 9,000
jobs each.
In a separate report, the BLS said that nonfarm business sector labor productivity increased at a 3.6 percent annual rate during the first quarter of 2010. Manufacturing sector productivity grew 2.5 percent in the first quarter of 2010, as output rose 7.5 percent and hours worked increased 4.9 percent, the first increase in hours since the second quarter of 2007.
Gains in productivity, output, and hours were each larger in the durable goods sector than in the nondurable goods sector. Unit labor costs in manufacturing declined 3.7 percent in the first quarter of 2010 and fell 6.1 percent over the last four quarters. The four-quarter decline was the largest in the series, which begins in the first quarter of 1988.
Click here for the productivity report.
