US unemployment fell to 3.6%, its lowest level since 1969

The US economy created 263,000 jobs in April, posting a record 103 consecutive months of job gains, and signaling that the growing economy currently shows little sign of slowing.

The unemployment rate fell to 3.6%, the Labor Department said Friday, its lowest level since 1969. The official unemployment rate is equal to or lower than 4% for more than a year.

Hiring was strong in most sectors, with particularly strong gains in business services (76,000 jobs added), construction (33,000 jobs added) and health care (27,000 jobs added) . Economists were keeping a close eye on government employment as the US census began to increase before the 2020 census. The federal government created 12,500 jobs in April, which likely contributed to the revival of the census.

The United States has more job opportunities than unemployed, what some economists call "full employment" because most job seekers are able to get a job.

In the years following the Great Recession, there was deep concern about the rising wages and job losses of Americans who had lost their jobs. Most of the news has been positive on both fronts in recent months, although the Labor Department announced a contraction of the labor force in April, which likely contributed to a half-year drop in the unemployment rate. century.

Economists, however, note encouraging trends: people who were not even actively looking for a job are suddenly hired.

The low unemployment rate has forced employers to raise wages and become more aggressive in hiring and training workers. Average hourly earnings rose 3.2% over the past year, well above inflation. The lowest wages have been among the largest gains, with companies scrambling to fill positions and many states having increased their minimum wages.

[Workers now have more power to demand higher pay and better jobs]

Business leaders are increasingly saying that their biggest challenge is to find enough people to fill vacant positions. McClane Company is a large trucking and warehouse company specializing in the transportation of food and groceries in the country. They advertise jobs for $ 70,000 a year in truck driving and a $ 6,000 registration fee in Jessup, Pennsylvania, but even with this level of pay, it was difficult to recruit enough people.

"The economy is good, but it's very difficult for employers," said Joe Stagnaro, president of McLane operations in Pennsylvania. "The people you want to hire are employed by someone else."

Stagnaro decided to try something new in addition to the many job offers on the Internet, billboards and newspaper ads that McLane uses to try to publicize the opportunities. He has just signed an agreement with a truck driving school to train people to become truckers directly on the McLane site, and the company takes over the training. He was very interested in the company's storekeepers, who wanted to acquire more skills, obtain a commercial driver's license and move to a higher-paying position.

There is no official measure of the government about the money invested by companies in training their own workers, but as unemployment remains low and wages are rising, more and more leaders say they are looking to develop in-house talent instead of trying to exclude them from other companies.

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