The U.S. added 288,000 nonfarm jobs in April, up from 203,000 jobs in March and its fastest pace of job growth since January 2012.
Today’s figure from the Bureau of Labor Statistics beat many analysts’ expectations of about 218,000 jobs and sent markets soaring.
The Department of Labor also reported today that unemployment fell to 6.3 percent from 6.7 percent, the lowest rate since September 2008.
However, the labor force participation rate declined significantly, which could be a sign that workers are dropping out of the workforce.
In Wisconsin, the unemployment rate dropped to 5.9 percent in March, according to preliminary BLS statistics. It’s the first time since November 2008 the Wisconsin unemployment rate has dipped below 6 percent.
