The US lost fewer jobs than forecast in April, and the unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped, signaling that the economic slowdown didn't gather pace at the start of the second quarter.
Payrolls shrank by 20,000 workers, following a revised 81,000 drop in March that was larger than previously estimated, the Labor Department said today in Washington.
The jobless rate fell to 5 per cent, from 5.1 per cent in March.
An average of 121,000 jobs a month were eliminated in the first four months of the 2001 recession, indicating that the current slowdown may be milder by comparison.
Seven Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts and the arrival of government tax rebate checks may be enough to help consumers weather the slumpin home values and jump in fuel costs.
Today's report also showed that income growth slowed last month as the economy stalled. The economy's 0.6 percent expansion rate over the six months through March was the weakest performance since the U.S. was last in a recession in 2001.
Bloomberg