Strong job growth in April

Net gain in jobs comes in well above Wall Street forecasts; unemployment rate still 5.2%.

May 6, 2005: 8:47 AM EDT

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Employers added far more jobs in April as the latest reading on labor market strength fell flew in the face of recent Wall Street fears of a slowing U.S. economy.

The Labor Department reported Friday that there was a net gain of 274,000 jobs to U.S. payrolls, compared with a revised 146,000 gain in the March report. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast a 170,000 gain in April.

The April number wasn't the only one showing unexpected strength. The March employment gain was revised up from an intial reading of 110,000 new jobs, and the February rate was also revised up to a 300,000 increase from a previous reading of a 243,000 gain.

The unemployment rate remained at 5.2 percent. Economists had forecast the rate would be unchanged.

The report comes amid a growing concern about the strength of the U.S. going into the summer. There had been some speculation the Federal Reserve might even take a pause from its course of quarter-point rate hikes at every meeting due to concerns about the economic strength.

"Although it may be too soon to conclude that the soft patch is no more, today's impressive job figure does suggest that the slowdown may not be everlasting," said Anthony Chan, senior economist with JPMorgan Asset Management.

Friday's report sent bond prices sharply lower and yields, which move in the opposite direction, higher as traders assumed there is now almost no chance of a pause at the next Fed meeting in late June.

Stock futures rose slightly, as optimism about economic strength was tempered with the expectation of more rate hikes

Dados do emprego impulsionam acções americanas


As bolsas norte-americanas iniciaram a sessão a valorizar, com os dados do emprego - foram criados 274 mil postos de trabalho em Abril - hoje divulgados a aliviarem os receios acerca de um abrandamento na maior economia do mundo. O Nasdaq crescia 0,57% e o Dow Jones valorizava 0,4%.

O Dow Jones seguia nos 10.382,71 pontos e o Nasdaq marcava 1.973,19 pontos.

Segundo o departamento do Trabalho, a economia dos Estados Unidos criou 274 mil novos postos de trabalho em Abril, um número que ficou muito acima do esperado pelos economistas. A taxa de desemprego manteve-se nos 5,2%.

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