May 14, 2012
April 2012 Market Environment
U.S. Economy
The unemployment rate fell by 0.1% in April to 8.1%, its lowest level since January 2009. In April, the labor force participation rate declined by 0.2% to 63.6%. The number of long-term unemployed decreased by 759K in the last twelve months and currently accounts for 41.3% of total unemployment with the average duration of unemployment lasting 39.1 weeks. The non-farm payroll, the net number of non-farm jobs added or subtracted per month, added 115K jobs in April while private-sector employment added 130K jobs. Employment gains for April were seen in professional and business services (62K), retail trade (29K), food services and drinking places (20K), health care (19K), and manufacturing (16K). Non-farm payroll employment for February and March were revised upward to show 53K additional jobs gained.
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