Economic News that matters: 153,000 Americans got new jobs! March setting second straight record in employment gains!

[link to www.cnsnews.com]

Americans increased 472,000 to 153,000,000 in March, setting a second straight monthly record; and the number of unemployed persons dropped by 326,000 to 7.2 million.

That brought the nation’s unemployment rate down two-tenths of a point to 4.5 percent.

The Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said the labor force participation rate remained flat at 63 percent in March; and the number of Americans not in the labor force increased slightly to 94,213,000, up 23,000 from February’s 94,190,000.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics says the economy added 98,000 jobs last month, which was well below the gains of 219,000 in February and 216,000 in January. Employment increased in professional and business services – and in mining – but retailers lost jobs.......