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Payrolls rise by 115,000; jobless rate dips

By Palm Beach Business.com

WASHINGTON — The economy added 115,000 jobs in April, with the unemployment rate dropped a point to 8.1 percent, the Labor Department reported Friday.

A year ago, unemployment was at 9.0 percent.

Economists had expected the number of new jobs to come in as high as 170,000. Both stocks and crude oil were falling late Friday morning in reaction.

Oil, in fact, fell more than $3 a barrel to below $100 a barrel for the first time since February.

The number of jobs added in March was revised upward to 154,000 from the previously announced 120,000.

The biggest gain by job sector was professional and business services, which increased by 62,000 in April. Within the sector, temporary jobs increased by 21,000; architectural and engineering services added 7,000, as did computer systems design and related services.

Transportation and warehousing lost 17,000 jobs in April, including 11,000 in transit and ground passenger transportation and 7,000 in couriers and messengers.

The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity will release statewide numbers later this month.