The United States saw another strong month of hiring in April, with the economy adding a better-than-expected 428,000 jobs and the unemployment rate remaining at a low 3.6 per cent, the government said on Friday.

Major industries, including leisure and hospitality, manufacturing and transportation, added positions last month, the Labour Department reported. But the labour force participation rate indicating the share of the population employed or searching for work declined slightly from March, a sign more job seekers were hired.

With the US economy facing its highest inflation level in decades, the data showed the pace of average hourly wage growth slowing last month, with a 0.3 per cent rise compared to March. 

Harvard University Professor Jason Furman said on Twitter the trend could be a positive sign as the Federal Reserve signals its determination to hike rates.“Nothing in this will or should change what the Fed does in June, but is another sign that the underlying inflation trend may be lower than I thought and coming down,” he wrote.

Pay is up 5.5 per cent over the last 12 months, according to the report.

Pay is up 5.5% over the last 12 months, according to the report

The data underscored the progress the US economy has made in the two years since unemployment spiked to a level not seen in decades when COVID-19 caused mass layoffs.

The 3.6 per cent unemployment rate now is only a hair above its pre-pandemic level, while the number of unemployed people was at 5.9 million last month, just slightly above its level in February 2020, the data said.