The U.S. economy added more jobs than forecast in April, easing concern that higher fuel prices are slowing the economic recovery.

Payrolls increased by 244,000 workers last month, the biggest gain since May 2010, after a revised 221,000 gain the prior month, the Labor Department said today in Washington. Economists projected an April rise of 185,000, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. Employment excluding government jobs jumped the most in five years. The jobless rate rose to 9 percent, the first increase since November…

The unemployment rate was projected to hold at 8.8 percent, according to the survey median.

Private hiring, which excludes government agencies, rose by 268,000 in April, more than the 200,000 median forecast in the Bloomberg survey and the most since February 2006, after a 231,000 increase in March.