The Employment Situation: April 2004 — 2004-05-07

Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 288,000 in April, and the unemployment rate was about unchanged at 5.6 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The April in- crease in payroll employment follows a gain of 337,000 in March, and job growth again was widespread. In April, employment rose substantially in several service-providing industries, construction continued to add jobs, and there was a noteworthy job gain in durable goods manufacturing. Both the unemployment rate, 5.6 percent, and the number of unemployed persons, 8.2 million, were essentially unchanged in April. The unemployment rate has been either 5.6 or 5.7 percent since last December. The unemploy- ment rates for the major worker groups--adult men (5.0 percent), adult women (5.0 percent), teenagers (16.9 percent), whites (4.9 percent), blacks (9.7 percent), and Hispanics or Latinos (7.2 percent)--were little changed over the month. The unemployment rate for Asians was 4.4 percent in April, not seasonally adjusted.