In a disappointing April jobs report, the nation added just 266,000 jobs and previous months’ estimates were lowered by a net 78,000, while unemployment rose slightly to 6.1% in a sign that employers are having difficulty hiring workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report.
The April jobs growth was the slowest of the year to date and greatly undercut experts predictions for the month, driven largely by hopes that increases in vaccinations would push people back into the job market. Pundits expected more than double the amount of new jobs, with ADP predicting 742,000 new jobs created.
The increase in the unemployment rate, even as more than a quarter million jobs were created, is a sign that people are reentering the workforce, but were unsuccessful in finding suitable employment.
Jobs increased in local government education–i.e., public school teachers and staff–as well as the hospitality and tourism industry. The leisure and hospitality sector has seen gains in the previous months, but employment in the sector is still down by 2.8 million over the past year.
The vehicle manufacturing segment saw a 27,000 job loss last month, perhaps driven by an increasing shortage of processors and chips used in cars and trucks.