May 2 (UPI) — Nonfarm payrolls in the United States grew by more than expected in April, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report Friday.
The monthly employment situation summary showed nonfarm payrolls grew by a seasonally adjusted 177,000 in April.
“Employment continued to trend up in health care, transportation and warehousing, financial activities, and social assistance,” the BLS said in a statement. “Federal government employment declined.”
Economists surveyed by the Dow Jones estimated nonfarm payrolls would grow by 133,000.
The BLS said 9,000 federal government jobs were lost in April. Since January, federal government jobs are down by 26,000.
Federal workers who lost jobs but are being paid severance are not yet counted among the job losses.
Health care accounted for 51,000 added jobs in April. Transportation and warehousing added 29,000. Financial activities created 14,000 jobs.
The BLS found average hourly earnings to be $36.06.
The BLS said the unemployment rate in April was unchanged at 4.2%. The total number of unemployed, according to the BLS, was 7.2 million.
The number of long-term unemployed jobless for 27 weeks or more was 1.7 million in April, a 179,000 increase.
The BLS jobs report showed higher job growth in April than private payroll company ADP, which reported a lower than expected 62,000 jobs added in April.
