Unemployment Rate Drops To 3.9%

The unemployment rate dropped to 3.9% for April according to reports from the Labor Department.

According to the New York Times, 164,000 jobs were added last month. Employment experts were expecting an increase of about 193,000.

This marks the lowest jobs rate since 2000. Economists say the numbers signal the job market becoming more competitive over the past months.

While more people may be working, one issue that gives pause is the slow increase in wages for middle class Americans.

Pay increased by 2.6 percent over the past year, not much faster than inflation. That's considerably more moderated than economists expect in a job market this tight.

The last time the job market looked like this, in the late 90s and early 2000s, wages for middle class workers rose at an annual rate of around 4 percent.

Interestingly, Donald Trump boasted that he would be THE "jobs president" since he allegedly knows how to create jobs.

And yet, it appears he isn't generating the same kind of numbers his predecessor did...

Average monthly job gain:

2016 avg: 187,000 (Obama).
2015 avg: 226,000 (Obama).
2014 avg: 250,000 (Obama).
2013 avg: 192,000 (Obama).
2012 avg: 179,000 (Obama).
2011 avg: 174,000 (Obama).

April 2018: 164,000 (President Jobs, Jobs, Jobs).

— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) May 4, 2018