April Jobs Numbers

On Thursday, initial unemployment claims rose slightly, on Friday, non farm payroll rose by 400,000 continuing a year of rapid job growth.

The U.S. labor market extended a run of rapid job growth last month despite jittery markets and increased economic uncertainty, as employers rushed to serve waves of consumers who are shopping, dining out and traveling more.

The economy added 428,000 jobs in April, duplicating March’s increase and marking the 12th straight month of gains above 400,000, the Labor Department said Friday. The unemployment rate remained at 3.6%, just a shade above the prepandemic level of 3.5%, a half-century low.

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Friday’s report included a puzzling decline in the labor force—the first since September—as 363,000 people retreated to the sidelines, shrinking what was already a tight labor pool.

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Yet employment remained down 1.2 million jobs in April compared with prepandemic levels. The biggest obstacle preventing a full recovery and even stronger job growth is a lack of supply as millions of adults remain on the sidelines.

The labor force declined, despite the job growth.

I've said it before, and I'll say it now there is something off about the statistical corrections that the DoL is using are in desperate need of adjustment in the post-Covid era.  Something is profoundly off here.