New Jobs Creation Near Expectations, but Economy Clearly Is Slowing
Commentary
New jobs created printed at 236,000 on April 7, according to the Establishment Survey, on par with market expectations of 230,000 jobs. The Household Survey printed lower, at 160,000. Net revisions were down 17,000 from January and February.
Both the unemployment rate, at 3.5 percent, and the number of unemployed persons, at 5.8 million, changed little in March. The U6 number was 6.7 percent. The U6 is total unemployed plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force, plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force. The Labor Participation Rate increased to 62.6, up from last month and last year, we believe largely as a consequence of pandemic benefits fInally being withdrawn….