The April jobs report came as welcome news, largely because it showed that job growth had been stronger in February and March than initial estimates showed. The evidence for a so-called spring swoon no longer looks very good.
But it would be a mistake to overstate the strength of the report. Activity in the job market still does not seem to be accelerating.
Binyamin Appelbaum points out in another post that the share of Americans with jobs has remained largely unchanged. Those numbers are based on the survey of households that the Labor Department conducts its each month. A second Labor Department survey â€" of businesses, which is larger and covers more jobs â€" carries the same message.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, via Haver Analytics For the last year and a half, average 12-month employment growth has hovered around 1.6 percent, precisely where it was in the 12 months ending in April. That’s faster than most of last decade, which included two recessions and a mediocre recovery. But it’s far cry from the growth rates of between 2 percent and 3 percent, and briefly above 3 percent, in the mid- to late 1990s.
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