New York: Although the U.S. government could create 244,000 new jobs in April, the overall unemployment rate rose to 9 percent, from 8.8 percent.
The U.S. Labor Department revealed that the number of U.S. citizens without a job is 13.7 million. However, President Barack Obama welcomed the jobs data and said, "There will undoubtedly be more challenges ahead. The fact is, we are still making progress. That proves how resilient the American economy is, how resilient the American worker is," he said during a visit to a factory in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Its should also be noted that the new number of jobs created and the number of people in work are better than what was expected, but its just a fraction of the 8 million employees who lost their jobs during the 2008 financial slowdown.
According to the new data, average hourly earnings rose just 3 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $22.95. Retail trade jobs rose to 57,000 and professional and business services employment rose to 51,000 jobs. Healthcare industry added 37,000 jobs while leisure and hospitality rose by 46,000, and manufacturing by 29,000. However, the number of public sector jobs went down by 24,000.
