April Employment Numbers Better Than Expected, Says Chao

U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao issued the following statement on the April employment situation report released today:

"In today's better-than-expected jobs report, both payroll employment and the unemployment rate were essentially unchanged from last month. While we continued to see declines in construction and manufacturing, the service-providing sector of the economy showed an encouraging increase of 90,000 jobs. The economic stimulus checks, some of which have already been mailed out, should help working families cope with the very real short term challenges of the current economy."