The jobless rate unexpectedly declined to a four-year low of 7.5 percent and Labor Department figures showed today that more jobs than forecast were added last month, suggesting the early stages of government budget cuts failed to destabilize the U.S. labor market. The U.S. economy expanded 2.2 percent in 2012 and is forecast to grow 2 percent this year, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
Mohamed El-Erian, who serves as co-chief investment officer with Gross at Newport Beach, California-based Pimco, coined the term “new normal” in 2009 to describe an era of lower returns, heightened government regulation and shrinking U.S. clout in the world economy following the 2007-2009 financial crisis.
Payrolls expanded by 165,000 workers last month following a revised 138,000 increase in March that was larger than first estimated, Labor Department figures showed. The median forecast of 90 economists surveyed by Bloomberg projected a 140,000 gain. Revisions to the prior two months’ reports added a total of 114,000 jobs to the employment count in February and March.
