The unemployment rate dipped to 3.4%, matching a 54-year low, the Labor Department said Friday. The jobless rate fell in part, though, because 43,000 people left the labor force, the first drop since November, and were no longer counted as unemployed.
In one sign of the benefits of a consistently tight job market, Black unemployment dipped in April to 4.7% — the lowest such level in government records dating to 1972. The ever-higher borrowing costs the Fed has engineered have weakened some key sectors of the economy, notably the housing market. Pounded by higher mortgage rates, sales of existing homes were down a sharp 22% in March from a year earlier. Investment in housing has cratered over the past year.
“Everything’s moving in the right direction,’ said Tom Garretson, senior portfolio strategist at RBC Wealth Management. “The Fed’s probably done enough.’ “They’re double-dipping,’ said Tim Johnson, the firm’s human resources chief. “They’re getting severance, and they’re getting a paycheck.’