The US added 288,000 jobs in April, significantly beating analysts’ expectations and boosting forecasts for second-quarter growth in the world’s largest economy.
The number was the best figure in more than two years and followed a disappointing first quarter of economic growth, which was affected by an unusually cold winter in the US.
In addition, the US’s unemployment figure fell by 0.4 percentage points to 6.3 per cent, its lowest level since September 2008 - the same month that investment bank Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy, now seen as a watershed moment in the global financial crisis.
Economists expect second quarter growth to top a 3 per cent pace, according to Reuters.
Gautam Batra, investment strategist at Signia Wealth, said: “The US economy is rebounding from a dismal period of growth in the first quarter... These figures suggest that the market’s focus will turn to tightening monetary conditions as the next hurdle to overcome, as the US economy tries to shift into a higher gear.”
