(Bloomberg) — Payrolls rebounded in April following an even bigger setback a month earlier than previously estimated, a sign companies are confident the economy will reboot after stagnating early this year. The unemployment rate dropped to 5.4 percent.
The 223,000 net increase in employment followed an 85,000 gain in March that was the smallest since June 2012, figures from the Labor Department showed Friday in Washington. The jobless rate fell to the lowest since May 2008 as more Americans entered the labor force and found work. Average hourly earnings climbed less than forecast.
Construction and health care were among the industries that accelerated the pace of hiring last month as the economy emerged from temporary setbacks that included bad weather and a labor dispute at West Coast ports. Such job growth and steadily rising wages may keep the Federal Reserve on track to raise its benchmark interest rate later this year.
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