U.S. jobs growth accelerates in April

PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S. jobs growth staged a bigger recovery than expected in April as businesses added 211,000 posts, BBC News reports.

Figures from the U.S. Department of Labour also showed the unemployment rate dropped slightly to 4.4%, compared with 4.5% in March.

The rebound in the jobs market could pave the way for the U.S. central bank to raise interest rates in June.

The economy needs to create 75,000 to 100,000 jobs a month to keep pace with growth in the working-age population.

An unemployment rate of anything under 5% is considered to indicate full employment. The rate of 4.4% is the lowest since May 2007.

The rise in employment was driven by the leisure and hospitality sectors, health care and social assistance, financial activities and mining.

The report also showed average hourly earnings rose by 2.5% year-on-year, although this was down slightly on March's figure.