Unemployment rate ticks down with jobs increase

Employers added an increased level of jobs during April, causing the unemployment rate to tick down slightly, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Last month, nonfarm payroll employment rose by 223,000 positions, and the jobless rate dropped a tenth of a point to 5.4 percent compared to March, according to a news release.

The payroll increase was led by the professional and business services, health care and construction industries, and partially offset by the mining sector.

Employers in the professional and business services industry pushed job ranks by 62,000 in April, led by 16,000 new positions in services to building and dwellings, according to the release.

Health care employers bumped industry payroll by 45,000 jobs last month. Within the sector, ambulatory health care services added 25,000 positions; hospitals, 12,000; and residential care facilities, 8,000.

In the construction industry, there were 45,000 new jobs in April, concentrated in specialty trade contractors, at 41,000, according to the release.

Conversely, mining industry employment fell by 15,000, with most of that loss occurring in direct mining. Also, oil and gas extraction dropped by 3,000 jobs.

As of April 30, the number of people unemployed in the country was 8.5 million, which was largely unchanged from March. According to the BLS, 2.1 million people were marginally attached to the labor force, meaning they were not working but were actively seeking jobs.