U.S. employers hired workers at the fastest clip in more than two years in April, pointing to a rebound in economic growth after a dreadful winter and keeping the Federal Reserve on track to end bond purchases this year.
The brightening outlook was, however, tempered somewhat by a sharp increase in the number of people dropping out of the labor force, which pushed the unemployment rate to a 5½-year low of 6.3 percent. Wage growth also was stagnant.
Nonfarm payrolls surged 288,000 last month, the Labor Department said Friday. That was the largest gain since January 2012 and beat economists' expectations for only a 210,000 rise.