NATIONAL REPORT—The U.S. economy added 263,000 jobs in April, and the unemployment rate declined to 3.6%, according to a report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Job gains occurred in several industries, including professional and business services, construction, healthcare and social assistance.
The unemployment rate declined by 0.2 percentage point to 3.6% in April, the lowest rate since December 1969. Over the month, the number of unemployed persons decreased by 387,000 to 5.8 million.
Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates declined in April for adult men (3.4%), adult women (3.1%), Whites (3.1%), Asians (2.2%), and Hispanics (4.2%). The jobless rates for teenagers (13%) and Blacks (6.7%) showed little or no change.
In April, the number of persons unemployed less than five weeks declined by 222,000 to 1.9 million. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed at 1.2 million in April and accounted for 21.1% of the unemployed.
The labor force participation rate declined by 0.2 percentage point to 62.8% in April but was unchanged from a year earlier. The employment-population ratio was unchanged at 60.6% in April and has been either 60.6% or 60.7% since October 2018.
The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was little changed at 4.7 million in April. These individuals, who would have preferred full-time employment, were working part time because their hours had been reduced or because they were unable to find full-time jobs.
