Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 164,000 jobs in April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, marking the country's 91st straight month of employment gains.
The unemployment rate fell to 3.9%, the first time it has gone below 4% since 2000. The unemployment rate had been at 4.1% for six consecutive months.
One economist called the jobs report "relentlessly, boringly, predictably good news." Another pointed out the dip below 4% was more the result of a shrinking labor force than jobless workers being hired.
Following are additional reactions from economists and others on Twitter.
Jobs Day, April 2018. Hello sub-4% unemployment. pic.twitter.com/uB0OaNC8h5
— Ernie Tedeschi (@ernietedeschi) May 4, 2018
Look through the noise, and the last three jobs numbers:
— Justin Wolfers (@JustinWolfers) May 4, 2018
Feb +324k
March +135k
April +164k
...yields an average rate of job growth of 200k per month. That's a very healthy rate.
Jobs report looks more moderate than strong. Unemp rate at 3.9% but this mostly due to tick down in labor force. Emp gains, at 164,000, slightly below expectations; Wg growth grew 2.6% for 3rd month in row; lack of acceleration one indicator that some labor market slack remains.
— Jared Bernstein (@econjared) May 4, 2018
DO NOT LIKE. Wage growth remains at a tepid 2.6% yoy.
— Heidi Shierholz (@hshierholz) May 4, 2018
Nominal wage growth continues to fall short, rising only 2.6 percent over the year. This is clear evidence that despite the low unemployment rate (3.9 percent) the economy is not yet at full employment.
— Elise Gould (@eliselgould) May 4, 2018
An important puzzle right now is how to reconcile increasingly convincing anecdotes of rising wage pressure, with quite comprehensive data that barely see any evidence of it.
— Justin Wolfers (@JustinWolfers) May 4, 2018
164K jobs is perfectly good, pace YTD is 200K—faster than the 182K last year. Unemployment of 3.9% is positively exciting. But the ~150m people with jobs care most about wages and up 2.6% in last 12 months is pretty disappointing.
— Jason Furman (@jasonfurman) May 4, 2018
#JobsReport: 7 out of 10 jobs added in April went to women. Of the 164,000 jobs added, women gained 115,000 jobs and men gained 49,000. pic.twitter.com/hw9wugRvBB
— IWPR (@IWPResearch) May 4, 2018
I cannot overstate the volatility of black and Hispanic unemployment rates, but it appears that the fall in the Hispanic unemployment rate was accompanied by increasing participation and employment, while the fall in the black unemployment rate was not. pic.twitter.com/wN9NhQafxu
— Elise Gould (@eliselgould) May 4, 2018
U.S. adds 164,000 jobs in April, unemployment rate falls to 17-year low of 3.9%. First time below 4% since Bill Clinton, but it doesn't look quite as good under the hood https://t.co/FjjHs0LS2i pic.twitter.com/zkbwxTL1xM
— MarketWatch Economy (@MKTWeconomics) May 4, 2018
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