The Employment Situation: April 1998 — 1998-05-08

Employment increased, and unemployment fell sharply in April, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The unemployment rate declined to 4.3 percent in April; from November through March, the rate had been either 4.6 or 4.7 percent. Nonfarm payroll employment grew by 262,000, following a small decline in March. Manufacturing was weak for the third straight month. The number of unemployed persons declined from 6.5 to 5.9 million in April, and the unemployment rate fell from 4.7 to 4.3 percent. This improvement was widespread across the major demographic groups. Unemployment rates in April were 3.4 percent for adult men, 4.1 percent for adult women, 13.1 percent for teenagers, 3.6 percent for whites, 8.9 percent for blacks, and 6.5 percent for Hispanics.