April 2008 Employment Situation — 2008-05-02

Nonfarm payroll employment was little changed in April (-20,000), following job losses that totaled 240,000 in the first 3 months of the year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The unem- ployment rate, at 5.0 percent, also was little changed in April. Employment continued to decline in construction, manufacturing, and retail trade, while jobs were added in health care and in professional and technical services. The number of unemployed persons (7.6 million) and the unemployment rate (5.0 percent) were little changed in April. A year earlier, the number of unemployed persons was 6.8 million, and the jobless rate was 4.5 percent. Over the month, the unemployment rates for most major worker groups--adult men (4.6 percent), teenagers (15.4 percent), whites (4.4 percent), blacks (8.6 percent), and Hispanics (6.9 percent)--showed little or no change. The jobless rate for adult women decreased to 4.3 percent in April, nearly off- setting an increase in the prior month.