Friday, April 06, 2007

U.S. Nonfarm Payrolls Grow by 180,000 Jobs: Jobless Rate Drops to Lowest Level Since May 2001

Who will be the first imbecile on the left that will attempt to equate this with the newly installed Democrat Congress?

U.S. payrolls jumped last month and the jobless rate fell, boosting the odds of moderate, consumer-driven economic growth and lowering the chances of any near-term reduction in official interest rates.

Outside of manufacturing, payroll gains were broadly based, with construction and services posting healthy increases. Previous months' employment increases, meanwhile, were revised up.

Nonfarm payrolls increased 180,000 in March, up from a revised 113,000 in February and 162,000 in January, the Labor Department said Friday. Those months were previously reported as increases of 97,000 and 146,000, respectively.

The unemployment rate fell 0.1 percentage point to 4.4% last month, matching its lowest level since May 2001. Average hourly earnings increased six cents, or 0.3%, to $17.22. That was up 4% from a year earlier, suggesting wages remain an inflation risk.

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