In a tweet Friday morning, President Donald Trump touted the new jobs report for April.
“JOBS, JOBS, JOBS! ‘Jobs surge in April, unemployment rate falls to the lowest since 1969.’” Trump tweeted.
Facts first: The jobs report for April shows a very strong economy, with the unemployment rate at a 50-year low.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday that in April, the US added 263,000 jobs. The unemployment rate fell to 3.6% from 3.8% in March. This marks the 103rd straight month the US economy has added jobs and the 31st straight month the unemployment rate has stayed below 5%.
A majority of these new jobs are in higher paying industries like business services, health care and construction. Hourly wages increased by 3.2% compared to a year prior – while inflation rose just 1.9%, giving US workers a real gain in their pockets.
But the drop in the unemployment rate is also due to fewer Americans looking for work. The number of Americans in the labor market fell during April, decreasing from 63% in March to 62.8% in April.
The US economy still has more job openings than unemployed people, which raises questions about how the US will work to expand the labor force, whether through training programs, high-skilled immigration and other efforts.
The jobs numbers come on the back of a strong GDP report last week, showing growth at an annual rate of 3.2%, well above the projected 2.1%.
“Everyone now has to revise upward their GDP forecast for this year,” chief US policy strategist for AGF Investments Greg Valliere told CNN Friday, noting the popular wisdom among analysts of a 2% rate for 2019 should be increased to 3% for the year.
CNN’s Kate Trafecante contributed to this report.
