“Today’s payroll number is definitely a soft number, but it’s not devastating,” said Tony Bedikian, managing director of global markets at Citizens Bank. “The jobs number at 160,000 is a little more in line with what we’ve been seeing in terms of slower economic growth numbers.”
Despite a lackluster April, job growth has been robust over the past year, averaging 232,000 per month, according to the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In Ohio, employers statewide added 18,300 jobs in March — the most recent month for which figures are available — and the unemployment rate stood at 5.1 percent. The April jobs report for Ohio is expected to be released May 20.
The national numbers were just the latest in a recent string of disappointing economic reports, including the Labor Department’s report earlier this month that the U.S. economy grew at a dismal 0.5 percent rate in the first quarter.
But the news wasn’t all bad.
The national jobs report also showed wages grew faster than expected, as well as hours worked.
In April, average hourly earnings for all employees on private non-farm payrolls increased by 8 cents to $25.53, following an increase of 6 cents in March. Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 2.5 percent — nearly twice the rate of inflation. At the same time, the average workweek rose 0.1 hours to 34.5 hours last month.
Though nowhere near pre-recession levels, rising wages and improving job prospects are pulling some people back into the jobs market.
Nationally, the labor force participation rate — or the number of people working or looking for work as a percentage of the working-age population — rose in each of the past five months before declining slightly in April to 62.8 percent from 63 percent in March.
In Ohio, the number of Ohioans working or actively seeking work rose by 36,000 last month to nearly 5.8 million, following labor force gains of 34,000 in February and 28,000 in January.
“The labor force really is increasing like nothing we’ve seen in a long, long time,” said Joe Nichols, economics policy analyst with the Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions.
But the interruption in job growth and labor force participation last month could lead the Federal Reserve to pause as it considers whether and when to push short-term interest rates higher again.
“I think the Fed will likely look at this as being not a terrible number. It does provide a little breathing room for them to sit back and wait for more data to reinforce their next move,” said Bedikian, referring to the Fed’s next meeting June 14-15.
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