Despite an increase of 138,000 jobs, the national unemployment rate has changed only slightly since the beginning of 2006, according to the most recent data released by the Department of Labor.
The report shows that April?s unemployment rate was 4.7 percent, which is unchanged from the previous month. Across most major demographic groups, there has been very little change in unemployment rates.
New jobs are being created in many sectors, according to the report, with the service-providing sector being one of the leaders for the month of April. In the financial
activities sector, 26,000 new jobs were added in April, and a total of 213,000 have been added since the beginning of the year.
Health care continued to add jobs, gaining 23,000 in April. Retail was one of the only sectors to see a decrease in job growth.
Labor Department spokesman Barry Ciccocioppo last month said there is a shortage of workers and noted that most economists consider unemployment below 5 percent to be “full employment.” Unemployment levels have declined steadily in the past year. The number of unemployed individuals is currently 7 million, down nearly 1 million, or 0.7 percent, since March 2005.
