manufacturing
Jobs added in April fall short of expectationsPosted by RJ and Makay on May 04, 2012 |
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The U.S. economy added 115,000 non-farm payroll jobs in April and the unemployment rate ticked down to 8.1% from 8.2% the previous month, the Labor Department reported today. The number fell short of economists’ expectations that had forecast a gain of 163,000 jobs. The slight improvement in the unemployment rate was attributed to an increase in the number of people who stopped looking for work.
Retail sales rose 0.8% in March as consumers increased their spending on a wide range of goods and services for the third straight month, the Commerce Department reported today. The retail sales increase easily beat economists’ forecasts of 0.4%. Consumer spending accounts for 70% of the nation’s economy, so experts are likely to revise upward their forecasts for first quarter gross domestic product (GDP).
The nation’s economy added 227,000 non-farm payroll jobs in February as the unemployment rate held steady at 8.3%, the U.S. Labor Department reported today. It marked the third consecutive month of job gains above 200,000. Job numbers for January and December were also better than previously reported, revised upward to 284,000 and 223,000 respectively.
