US Economy Adds 236,000 Jobs in April, Unemployment Hits 50-Year Low

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The unemployment rate in the United States fell in April to the lowest level in nearly a half-century while the economy added more than a quarter-million new jobs from March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said in the monthly jobs report on Friday.

"The unemployment rate declined by 0.2 percentage point to 3.6 percent in April, the lowest rate since December 1969," a press release summarising the report said.

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It went on to note that "total non-farm payroll employment increased by 263,000."

Job growth from March to April exceeded estimates by many analysts, who had predicted gains of less than 200,000, according to published reports.

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates declined in April for adult men (3.4 percent), adult women (3.1 percent), Whites (3.1 percent), Asians (2.2 percent), and Hispanics (4.2 percent), the release said.

The jobless rates for teenagers (13.0 percent) and Blacks (6.7 percent) showed little or no change.

This follows a Gallup poll released in March that more than half of American voters were willing to give President Donald Trump credit for reviving the US economy and creating new jobs, despite persistent skepticism on the president's overall job performance.