Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 175,000 in April, and the unemployment rate changed little at 3.9 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred in health care, in social assistance, and in transportation and warehousing. ...

The labor force participation rate held at 62.7 percent in April, and the employment-population ratio was little changed at 60.2 percent. These measures have shown little change over the year. ...

In April, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 7 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $34.75. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.9 percent. In April, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees edged up by 6 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $29.83. (See tables B-3 and B-8.)

In April, the average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged down by 0.1 hour to 34.3 hours. In manufacturing, the average workweek was unchanged at 40.0 hours, and overtime was also unchanged at 2.9 hours. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged down by 0.1 hour to 33.7 hours. (See tables B-2 and B-7.)

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for February was revised down by 34,000, from +270,000 to +236,000, and the change for March was revised up by 12,000, from +303,000 to +315,000. With these revisions, employment in February and March combined is 22,000 lower than previously reported. (Monthly revisions result from additional reports received from businesses and government agencies since the last published estimates and from the recalculation of seasonal factors.)