POLITICO: … The April report, showing a bigger than expected gain of 288,000 jobs, should quiet fears of another spring slowdown and revive hopes for faster growth the rest of this year.
The job gains were widespread across industries, suggesting employers were catching up on hiring they postponed over the cold winter.
But the report was not all good news.
The jobless rate dropped from 6.7 percent to 6.3 percent — the lowest rate since October 2008 – largely because the size of the labor force shrunk by 806,000 in April. No one knows exactly why the labor force keeps shrinking – it now sits at 62.8 percent, a 35-year low. But it at least in part reflects some people giving up on ever finding a job… (more)
