The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has released its April employment report. Private sector job creation equaled the revised total figure for March (230,000). The public sector total was 66, 000 spurred in part by the addition of temporary census jobs. The 290,000+ number is the best since March of 2006. The revision of February figures from -14,00 to +39,000 makes march the 4th straight month of job gains and the 5th out of the last 6. Despite this, unemployment rose to 9.9% (from 9.7) for the first three months of the year. The growth in unemployment is attributable to reentrants to the workforce.

Although the unemployment rate remained at 9.7%, the economy gained 162,000 jobs.