Wait, the U.S. economy only added how many jobs?

Segments From This Episode

• April was only OK for hiring in a surprise report from the government today

  Only 266,000 people were added to nonfarm payrolls in April, as opposed to the estimates that were closer to 1 million. “You know, we economists joke that forecasting short-term employment is the most dangerous thing you can do,” said Christopher Low, chief economist at FHN Financial. People did get hired at restaurants, that happened as expected. So where’s the weakness? Well, companies usually add a lot of seasonal workers in April. “The biggest decline was in temporary employment agencies, they provide a ton of those seasonal workers,” Low said. “And this year, it looks like they just couldn’t find enough people.” Low thinks that means maybe the May number will show a more dramatic increase in hiring. Nonetheless, the average numbers from the last couple of months and beyond show that the economy is healing, it’s just not as fast as promised.

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• Schools gradually add back jobs, but teacher shortage may worsen

  by Matt Levin

  

  Younger teachers may also be more inclined to leave and even switch career paths entirely.

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