| Job market is weak, but not collapsing The labor market wasn’t as weak as expected in April, but it wasn’t strong by any means. The recent data released by the Labor Department continues to show an economy near or in recession, with more jobs destroyed than created for a fourth straight month. Non-farm payrolls fell by 20,000 in April after job losses averaging 80,000 in the first quarter of the year. Economists were expecting a loss of 78,000. But because of the unique nature of this downturn, the job market hasn’t collapsed as it typically does during a recession. The economy has two facets: Most industries dealing with real estate or the manufacture, shipping or sales of tangible goods are weak, although the boom in exports is keeping the factory sector from shedding as many jobs as it typically does. Most industries dealing with providing services, such as health care, education, professional services and accommodations are doing better. Rather than laying off workers who may be needed if the economy turns around, firms are sharply cutting back on hours. Average hourly wages barely grew during the month, rising by just 1 cent. A separate survey of households painted a picture of a stronger job market in April. In that survey, employment rose by 362,000 after falling by 221,000 over the first quarter. Those gains pushed the unemployment rate back down to 5%. ——————– MilitaryConnection.com is a portal of all things military. We have thousands of pages and hundreds of databases of valuable information and resources. There is something for everyone. All of this is provided free to users. Additionally, we feature all types of Articles like this one to keep you informed. We will post your press releases, special events, newsletters, professional conferences and seminars, reunions, job fairs, and videos to help organizations get out the word. One of the areas of our focus is connecting candidates from the military community with outstanding government and civilian employers. We are well aware that candidates from the military community across the board have a work ethic second to none. They make highly valued employees. MilitaryConnection.com has a multitude of employment resources including a Directory of over 30,000 employers, Job Tips, Columns, our Job Board, Virtual Job Fair and much more. We understand the importance of education. Please check out our new Scholarship Directory featuring thousands of scholarships. When the next tour is back home, it’s on MilitaryConnection.com.
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