April Labor Update: National & State

The United States saw positive job creation in April, and the labor force’s size finally passed pre-pandemic levels. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce stated that 253,000 jobs were added to the economy in April, far beyond the predicted 180,000 jobs. A growing labor market is favorable. However, it is also a qualifier for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates as they did on May 3rd from 5 percent to 5.25 percent. Due to record inflation and slow economic growth, the Federal Reserve has rapidly raised interest rates in anticipation of the labor marketing cracking. However, as the Wall Street Journal reported, it has not.

 

Although there was growth in total jobs, there are still 3.75 million more job openings than unemployed workers. Job openings remain high, and quit levels do, too. Employers are continuing to face a workforce shortage. In the Palmetto State, the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce that the number of people working increased to 2,330,701 in April and the state’s labor force participation rate went up to 56.3 percent from March’s rate of 55.1 percent. DEW also reported that the amount of unemployed people decreased to 75,653 brining the unemployment rate down to 3.1 percent from March’s rate of 3.2 percent.

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