The US labour market added just 266,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate edged up to 6.1 per cent, marking an unexpected deceleration in job creation in the world’s largest economy.
The April data compared to 770,000 jobs added in March — a downward revision compared to the previous estimate — and showed the US labour market is still short of pre-pandemic levels. In April, 8.2m fewer Americans were working compared with February 2020.
The jobs numbers for April were released at a time of intense debate among policymakers and economists about the extent to which the rebound under way in the US will trigger a jump in inflation.
Biden administration officials and senior officials at the Federal Reserve believe consumer price increases will be transient, but some economists and investors fear that the US economy is set to overheat in a risky way.
Some economists have also warned that labour shortages might hamper job creation as the economy rebounds from the depths of the pandemic
The lacklustre jump in job creation will make it harder for the White House to claim that its initial $1.9tn stimulus bill is working as planned.
The Biden administration wants Congress to take much broader fiscal action with plans to increase spending by a combined $4.1tn on US infrastructure and the social safety net over the coming decade, paid for with higher taxes on the wealthy and large US companies.
Source: Economy - ft.com
