U.S. nonfarm payrolls plunge less than anticipated in April

The U.S. Labor Department announced on Friday that nonfarm payrolls plunged by 20,500,000 in April after an upwardly revised 870,000 gain in the prior month (originally a decrease of 701,000), reflecting the effects of the coronavirus and efforts to contain it. That was the largest monthly decline in payrolls in the history of the series and brought employment to its lowest level since February 2011.

According to the report, job drops in April were widespread, with the largest employment decline occurring in leisure and hospitality (-7.7 million jobs, or 47 percent).

The unemployment rate climbed to 14.7 percent in April from 4.4 percent in March. That was also the highest level in the history of the series.

Economists had forecast the nonfarm payrolls to fall by 2,200,000 and the jobless rate to surge to 16.6 percent.

The labor force participation rate decreased by 2.5 percentage points to 60.2 percent in April (the lowest rate since January 197), while hourly earnings for private-sector workers rose 4.7 percent m-o-m (or $1.34) to $0.01, following an upwardly 0.5 percent m-o-m gain in March (originally, +0.4 percent m-o-m). Economists had forecast a 0.4 percent m-o-m advance in the average hourly earnings. Over the year, average hourly earnings have increased by 7.9 percent, following a revised 3.3 percent rise in March (originally, +3.1 percent).

The average workweek increased by 0.1 hour to 34.2 hours in April, exceeding economists' forecast for 33.1 hours.