For Every Unemployed Person, 2 Jobs Are Available

The economy may be threatened on a number of fronts—inflation, a volatile stock market, a war overseas—but hiring is apparently not one of them. The new Labor Department numbers for April are out, and they reflect continued job growth:

• Jobs: Employers added 428,000 jobs in April, which marks the 12th consecutive month of gains north of 400,000, reports the Wall Street Journal. The April figure was slightly above expectations of 400,000.
• Rate: The unemployment rate remained at 3.6%, just a tick above the 50-year low of 3.5% reached just before the pandemic began.

• Record stat: The AP points out that, on average, two jobs are now available for every unemployed person, which is the highest proportion in history. Related to that, a record 4.5 million quit their jobs in March, apparently unworried about landing another one.
• Too hot? CNBC reports that some economists expect the robust hiring numbers to ease up in the coming months, and they see that as a positive. "We need it, at this point in time, to slow down a bit because we’re going to blow past full employment and inflation is going to become a bigger problem than it already is," says Mark Zandi of Moody’s Analytics. "Ultimately, we need to get to something that’s closer to no more than 100,000 a month."

(More jobs report stories.)