April NFP = +211,000; Unemployment = 4.4%

This morning’s jobs report showed that the U.S. economy created 211,000 net new jobs last month. The unemployment rate fell to 4.4% which is a 10-year low.

The jobs-to-population ratio is the highest since January 2009. The unemployment rate is lower now than it was at any point from March 1970 to March 1998.

The media is reporting that the unemployment rate is at a 10-year low. That’s correct, but we came very close to making a 16-year low, yet the figure for March 2007 stood in our way.

Splitting out the decimals, unemployment is currently at 4.404% while it was at 4.398% for March 2007. That was the low for the last cycle.

Average hourly earnings rose 7 cents to $26.19. The year-over-year change has decelerated for the last two months.

Here’s the broader U-6 unemployment rate:

Posted by on May 5th, 2017 at 9:14 am


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