Futures Broker – Unemployment/nonfarm payrolls – [5/7/2010]

WASHINGTON, May 7 (Reuters) – U.S. nonfarm payrolls grew at
the fastest pace in four years in April as private sector
employers ramped up hiring, raising the strong possibility that
the labor market recovery may be picking up steam.
Employers added 290,000 jobs in April, the Labor Department
said on Friday. It revised figures for February and March to
show 121,000 more jobs were added than previously thought. The
unemployment rate, however, rose to 9.9 percent as the size of
the labor force increased.
Payrolls have now risen for four straight months.
Analysts polled by Reuters had expected nonfarm payrolls to
rise 200,000 last month and the jobless rate to remain
unchanged at 9.7 percent. The median forecast from the 20 most
accurate forecasters was for a payrolls increase of 188,000.
Private sector employment increased 231,000, also the
largest gain since March 2006, after rising 174,000 in March.
Private payrolls have now grown for four months. Census hiring
contributed 66,000 jobs.