US Unemployment Rate Falls To Decade Low Of 4.4 Percent

NEW YORK, NY — Is it finally time to say we've moved out of the shadow of the 2008 financial crisis? New data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the country has reached a significant milestone.

Returning to its low of 4.4 percent in the last decade, the American unemployment rate fell in April to a level not seen since since May 2007, according to the jobs report. The economy added 211,000 jobs in total, suggesting that the prior month's sub-par growth of 98,000 jobs does not indicate a significant slowdown. (For more information on this and other political stories, subscribe to the White House Patch for daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

"Hiring got its groove back in April, accelerating above the average of the previous 3 months," said Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate.com. "It is good to see the payrolls number climb back above the 200,000 level, where it had been in every month so far this year except for March."

Students about to leave college should be happy to hear this news.

"Both the headline jobless rate, or U3, at 4.4% and the broader U6 now at 8.6% continue to make progress," Hamrick adds. "These are the lowest levels of the economic recovery and bode well for the college graduating class of 2017 and their job prospects."

Hospitality, health care, social assistance, financial activities and mining are the industries that performed best this month in terms of jobs gains.

But Chief Economist Curt Long at the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions warned that the jobs report also shows some sluggishness in the economy.

"The April jobs report showed mixed results, as strong job growth was offset by a decline in labor force participation and wage growth," he said. "This should ease fears of an abrupt decline in the labor market brought on by last month's weak report, but reaffirms the longer-term trend of a gradual slowing in job creation."

More seasoned veterans of the jobs market and observers of economic trends may be ask: What does all this means for the expectation that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates again this year? Hamrick expects Fed Chair Janet Yellen and the rest of the Federal Open Market Committee to stay the course.

"The Federal Reserve, while not a religious entity, has indicated that its members have faith that the economy will return to a familiar, steady growth path after a lackluster start to the year," he said. "The April jobs report helps them to keep their own brand of faith, meaning that the odds are good that the outlook remains for rising interest rates."

Long agreed: "Despite ongoing questions over muted wage growth, the Fed is likely to be heartened by the report and a rate hike in June is more likely than not."

While it's still very early in his term, questions about the economy always seem to turn back to questions about the president and the federal government more broadly. It's certainly too soon to make any decisive claims about the administration's macroeconomic management, but expectations for future policy changes are baked into the mix of the economic data.

"Many investors have been hoping that there would be an immediate acceleration in growth following the president’s election, based in part on his ambitious claims and plans," Hamrick said. "But the president is learning that governing is more challenging than campaigning. "

He added: "It remains to be seen whether the president and Republican-led Congress will be successful in following through on those plans including on the key component of their growth-raising plans revolving around tax reform."

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