WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers added 223,000 jobs in April, a solid gain that suggests that the economy may be recovering after stumbling at the start of the year. 
 
 In this April 22, 2015 photo, a sign at a recruiting station for Leslie's Pool supplies boasts that it is a great place to work during a National Career Fairs job fair, in Chicago. The Labor Department... (Associated Press) 
 
 The Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate dipped to 5.4 percent from 5.5 percent in March. That is the lowest rate since May 2008, six months into the Great Recession. 
 
 Yet the report included signs of sluggishness: March's weak job gain was revised sharply down to just 85,000 from 126,000. In the past three months, employers have added 191,000 positions, a decent gain but down from last year's average of 260,000. 
 
 Oil and gas drillers, which have struggled under the weight of lower energy prices, shed jobs for a fourth straight month. 
 
 But in an encouraging sign, construction companies, which include many higher-paying positions, added jobs at a healthy pace in April. 
 
 The job growth isn't yet boosting paychecks much. Average hourly wages rose just 3 cents in April to $24.87. Wages have risen 2.2 percent in the past 12 months, about the same modest year-over-year increase as in the past six years. 

 Yes, it was that time again, folks. Jobs Friday, when for one ever-so-brief moment, the interests of Wall Street, Washington and Main Street were all aligned on one thing: jobs. 
 
 Here at MoneyBeat HQ, we crunched the numbers and compiled the commentary before and after the data crossed the wires. Here’s how it all went down.
– The unemployment rate fell from 5.5% to 5.4% in April and the economy added 223,000 jobs—pretty close to the 228,000 economists had expected—but elements of the jobs report weren't exactly encouraging. The number of new jobs added in March was revised way down, from an already-disappointing initial estimate of 126,000 to 85,000, which is the worst number we've seen since June 2012, the Wall Street Journal reports. As for February, its number was revised from 264,000 to 266,000—"a minor improvement that in no way makes up for the March mess," writes Erik Holm. So far this year, the average number of jobs added each month is sitting at 193,000—compared to 2014's average of 260,000. The AP notes that the 5.4% unemployment rate is a seven-year low, but as Paul Vigna points out at the Journal, the labor force participation rate remained largely unchanged at 62.8%, about where it's sat for the past year—meaning that "there are millions of people out there, still, years after the official end of the recession, who aren't working or looking for work." If we had a higher participation rate, say, what it was in 2006, "the unemployment rate would be a couple of full percentage points higher."