Jobs Data Show Hopeful Sign, Though Economy Still Ails; Employment Falls, But Not as Quickly; Mr. Crooks's Hunt
Employers cut jobs in April for the fourth month in a row, but the small size of the drop -- 20,000 jobs -- and a dip in the unemployment rate offered a tentative sign that the U.S. economy might be escaping a deep recession.</br></br>Despite the better-than-expected news, the economy is not healthy. Car sales hit their lowest level in nearly a decade in April, while the fall in home prices is accelerating and consumers are feeling the pain of higher food and energy bills. The decline in the unemployment rate to 5% from 5.1% reflects an increase in part-time jobs. The number of workers with full-time jobs declined.</br></br>The U.S. economy needs to add 100,000 jobs a month to keep up with population growth. "You can't lose jobs on a continual basis and have the kind of growth in the economy that you want," said Lehman Brothers economist Drew Matus. He predicted shrinking payrolls for the rest of this year.</br></br>Still, the decline in payrolls in April -- Wall Street forecasters had anticipated an 85,000 drop -- suggests the economic fallout from the housing bust and credit crunch that began last year may be less severe than had been widely assumed as recently as last week.</br></br>The jobs report buoyed an already-rising stock market and strengthened the dollar. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which fell below 12,000 in March, rose 48.20 points Friday, or 0.37%, to close at 13,058.20.