By CountingPips.com
Today’s US government nonfarm payrolls employment data came in better than expected with a gain of 244,000 jobs for April while the unemployment rate edged just higher to 9.0 percent. The April data marked the third straight month hiring has topped 200,000 and follows revised gains of 221,000 jobs in March and 235,000 jobs in February.
Market forecasters and economists were expecting the nonfarm payroll report to show a gain of approximately 185,000 jobs and the unemployment rate to remain at 8.8 percent for the month.
The unemployment rate, at 9.0 percent, rose from 8.8 percent in March as more people joined the search for new jobs.
Private companies created 268,000 jobs in April as the service sector added 224,000 jobs and the goods producing sector increased by 44,000 jobs. Government hiring decreased by 24,000 workers for the month.
Within the service sector, retail hiring led the way in job creation with an increase of 57,000 workers while professional and business services hiring added 51,000 jobs in April. Education & health services jobs increased by 49,000 workers and leisure & hospitality saw 46,000 workers added to the payrolls for the month.
In the goods producing sector, manufacturing jobs rose by 29,000 workers while mining jobs rose by 11,000. Construction hiring was higher by 5,000 jobs in April.
Forex: US dollar mixed as Stocks rise
The US dollar has had mixed results against the other major currencies in the forex markets today following the monthly government jobs report. The dollar has gained ground on the day versus the euro, Japanese yen and the Swiss franc while losing ground against the New Zealand dollar, Australian dollar, Canadian dollar and the British pound sterling.
The US stock markets, meanwhile, have been on the rise in morning trading today with the Dow Jones industrial average increasing by over 140 points while the NASDAQ has been higher by over 25 points and the S&P 500 has increased by over 12 points at time of writing.
In commodities, oil has edged lower slightly by $0.25 to the $99.55 level while gold futures have been higher by $13.90 at the $1,494.80 level so far today.
