WASHINGTON - Nonfarm payrolls in April increased by 290,000, exceeding economists' estimates and posting the largest increase in four years, as the unemployment rate increased to 9.9%, the Labor Department reported today.
The gain in payrolls, which have increased for four consecutive months, were fueled in part by a 66,000 gain for Census hiring. Manufacturing added 44,000 jobs, professional and business services added 80,000, and health and education sector added 35,000.
The unemployment rate increased to the highest since December when it was 10.0%.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters expected employers to add 200,000 workers and for the unemployment rate to stay at 9.7%, according to the median estimate.
Payrolls in March and February were revised higher adding a combined 121,000 workers. Payrolls increased 230,000 in March and 39,000 in February.
Payrolls had declined for 23 straight months stretching back to December 2007 through October 2009 amid the recession.
Average hourly earnings increased 0.3% in April following a 0.1% decline in March.
The average workweek for all employees increased by 0.1-hour, or six minutes, to 34.1 hours. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees also increased by 0.1-hour to 33.4 hours.
Economists expected average hourly earnings to increase 0.1% for the month and for the average workweek for all workers to increase to 34.1 hours, according to Thomson Reuters.
