US employers cut back on hiring in April and the jobless rate fell as people gave up the hunt for work, a sombre note on the economy that could hurt US president Barack Obama’s re-election chances.
Employers added just 115,000 workers to their payrolls last month, the US labour department said. It was the third straight month in which hiring slowed, keeping fears alive that the US economy is losing momentum. It also dampens hopes a stretch of strong winter hiring signalled a turning point for the recovery.
The unemployment rate ticked a 10th of a point lower to 8.1 per cent, a three-year low, as people left the workforce.
The jobless rate is derived from a separate survey of households, which showed a drop in the number of jobs in April.
However, the government revised upward its initial estimates for payroll growth in February and March by a combined 53,000. That left the six-month average of job growth at 197,000, nearly exactly where it would have been had April job growth come in as expected at 170,000. – (Reuters)
