NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Job growth was stronger than initially reported at the start of 2013, and U.S. employers continued to hire in April.
The economy added 165,000 jobs in April, according to a Labor Department report released Friday.
That was more than expected and marked an improvement over March, but the big story came from large revisions to earlier job growth numbers. Revisions to the February and March figures showed an additional 114,000 jobs were added over those months alone.
The unemployment rate fell to 7.5% in April, as 11.7 million people were counted as unemployed. That’s still high compared to historical levels. Before the recession hit, the unemployment rate was 4.5%.
Top sectors for job growth
The strongest job growth in April came from restaurants and bars, which added 38,000 jobs, and retailers, which added 29,000 jobs. Health care also added 19,000 jobs, which is no surprise, given that health care has been steadily adding jobs, even through the the worst of the recession.
The government is now the biggest drag on the job market. Overall, federal, state and local governments cut 11,000 jobs in April.
