U.S. gains jobs in April; unemployment rate inches down

WASHINGTON — Nonfarm payroll employment grew by 211,000 jobs in April, according to the latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The unemployment rate fell to 4.4 percent from March's 4.5 percent, the BLS said in its May 5 report.

The Leisure and hospitality sector saw the biggest gains during April, growing by 55,000 jobs, according to the bureau. Health care and social assistance and professional and business services tied at 39,000 jobs each, it said.

However, the manufacturing, construction, wholesale trade, retail trade, information, government, and transportation and warehousing sectors saw little change, according to the BLS.

The BLS's job figures exceeded those of payroll services firm ADP Inc., which on May 3 released its report saying that nonfarm payroll employment grew by 177,000 jobs in April.

All sizes of businesses enjoyed strong job gains during the month, according to ADP.

Small businesses (1-49 employees) grew by 61,000 employees; medium-sized businesses (50-499 employees) by 78,000; and large businesses (500 or more employees) by 38,000, the company said.

The goods-producing sector gained 12,000 jobs, including 11,000 in manufacturing, and the service-providing sector gained 165,000, ADP said. (The BLS said manufacturing jobs grew by 6,000 in April.)

Franchise employment grew by 5,400 jobs, including 1,800 in auto parts and dealers, it said.

Under the Trump administration, small businesses once again feel optimistic enough to start hiring, according to the April Jobs Report from the National Federation of Independent Business.

"The small business community is creating jobs again," said NFIB President and CEO Juanita Duggan. "They are energized by the prospect of better federal policies on taxes, health care and regulations."

A seasonally adjusted net total of 16 percent of small business owners said they plan to create new jobs, according to the NFIB report. One-third said they had job openings they could not fill, up 3 percentage points from March and the highest figure since November 2000, the federation said.

"More small business owners were able to increase employment in April, which is a positive sign for the U.S. economy," said NFIB Chief Economist William Dunkelberg.

"However, they still face an extremely tight labor market and are struggling to find qualified workers to fill open positions."

The Alliance for American Manufacturing expressed disappointment in the manufacturing job figures. Growth in factory jobs slowed overall except for some minor gains in the automotive sector, the AAM said.

"Over the past five months, manufacturing has added over 70,000 jobs, but indicators like slowing U.S. factory activity growth suggest that we still need to lay more tracks for the future," said AAM President Scott Paul.

Pro-export tax reform, infrastructure investment, Buy America policies and pushing back against China's anti-competitive policies are all necessary for manufacturing job growth, according to Mr. Paul.

"Only meaningful action will restore some of America's lost factory jobs," Mr. Paul said. "Announcements and press releases may look great on the surface, but if the administration and companies like Apple and Walmart want to fundamentally alter the future of domestic manufacturing, they'll have to rise above the rhetoric and actually bring production jobs home."