US adds 290,000 new jobs in April

The US created 290,000 jobs in April, much higher than expected, indicating the economy is probably rebounding at a steady pace.

"Non-farm payroll employment rose by 290,000 in April. The unemployment rate edged up to 9.9 per cent and the labour force increased sharply," the US Labour Department said on Friday.

Analysts projected that the economy would generate 185,000 to 190,000 jobs last month.

The unemployment rate stood at 9.7 per cent in March.

Most of the sectors, including manufacturing and health care, generated new jobs in April.

"Job growth was fairly widespread, with gains in manufacturing, professional and business services, healthcare and leisure and hospitality," the Labour Department said in a statement.

The Federal government had made 66,000 temporary hiring for census activities.

"Non-farm employment has risen by 573,000 since December, with 483,000 jobs added in the private sector," the statement added.

The latest figures indicate that economic recovery is happening at a steady rate. The US economy has been growing at a healthy pace in the past two quarters and expanded 3.2 per cent in the first three months of 2010.

As a whole, the labour force increased by 805,000 in April.

The manufacturing sector, one of the worst hit by the financial meltdown last year, added 44,000 new jobs last month and employment in this segment has climbed by 101,000 since December, 2009.

"Three industries -- fabricated metal products, machinery and primary metals -- have accounted for more than half of factory job gains so far this year," the statement noted.

The healthcare sector created 20,000 jobs last month.

"Employment also continued to grow in leisure and hospitality (45,000). The industry has added 121,000 jobs since December, led by gains in food services," it added.

In April, 6.7 million people had been jobless in the US for 27 weeks or more.