U.S. Adds 164,000 Jobs in April; Unemployment Falls to 3.9%

By the numbers:

The jobless rate in the U.S fell to +3.9% in April, touching the lowest mark since December 2000. U.S employers added +164k jobs, a pickup from March and more than enough to keep up with population growth.

Nevertheless, workers’ wages continued to grow sluggishly despite the historically low unemployment rate. Wages grew +4c over the month and +2.6% over the past year.

Employers have stepped up hiring this spring – they have added an average +208K jobs over the past three-months, well above last year’s monthly average of +182K.

For rate ‘hawks,’ signs of a tightening labor market may push the Fed to consider raising short-term interest rates slightly more aggressively this year than they have signalled to date.

Hourly pay for private-sector workers rose, on average, rose +0.15% from a month earlier to +$26.84 in April. That figure was +2.6% above the year ago level.

The dollar is little changed on the market miss and U.S equity futures have pared declines after the release. U.S 10’s are trading a tad shy of +2.93%.

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