The April Jobs Repot came out and POTUS is touting great numbers. Do you want the good news or the bad news first? Our friends at GEN FKD weigh in: 

The Good…

The economy added 288,000 jobs in April according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is the highest increase in 2014, and exceeded economist’s expectations of 218,000. The Bureau of Labor Statistics also adjusted the February and March numbers – adding a total of 36,000 jobs gained in the first quarter of 2014.

The unemployment rate now stands at 6.3%. which is the lowest it has been since September 2008.

So it appears we’re off to a healthy start to the second quarter of 2014.

And Now the bad…

Roughly 806,000 Americans left the Labor Force in April, causing the Labor Force Participation Rate to decline to 62.8% – the lowest it has been since 1978. The Labor Force Participation rate measures the number of working adults who are considered to be participating in the labor force. This drop is startling and very unsettling.

The average hourly wage has remained stagnant despite the decline in joblessness.  This indicates that businesses are still very uncertain about economic prospects, and signals that employees do not feel the job market is fluid enough to demand wage increases.  In a healthy economy, laborers are able to bargain for wage increases because they can easily enter or exit the labor force, while businesses feel comfortable raising wages because the economy is stable.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reserves the right to adjust jobs numbers later in the year. For February and March, an additional 36,000 jobs were added to the tally. Keep in mind, the adjustment may go both ways – the exciting April jobs number may or may not  be completely accurate.

And finally, the unemployment rate for April is 6.3%, which is the lowest it’s been since January 2012. Economists believe that in this stage of our recovery, this number should be much lower.

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