Payrolls down but outpace projections

In keeping with gloomy expectations, U.S. payrolls continue to decline, though the damage is not as severe as some had feared. The number of U.S. jobs dropped for the fourth consecutive month in April, with 20,000 job cuts after the loss of 81,000 jobs in March, according to the Department of Labor. Economists polled by MarketWatch projected a loss of 80,000 jobs in April. The unemployment rate dipped to 5% in April, down from 5.1% in March. Total unemployment, at 146.3 million, and the employment population ratio of 62.7% were little changed. The number of people working part time increased to 5.2 million, 849,000 more than in April of 2007. These individuals indicated they were working part time due to their hours’ being cut back or because full-time jobs were not available. Retail trade lost 27,000 jobs. Manufacturing was down as well, losing 46,000 jobs over the month, mainly in the durable-goods sector. Employment in construction declined by 61,000. However, employment increased in food services, which added 18,000 jobs, and the health care sector, which increased its ranks by 37,000. In April, the average hourly payrolls of production and non-supervisory workers rose by 1 cent to $17.88, seasonally adjusted. This follows two consecutive months where payrolls increased by 6 cents.