**MNI DATA IMPACT: US April Payrolls +263k; Earnings +0.2%>

--March Payrolls Rev Down To 189k, February Jobs Rev Up to 56k

By Kevin Kastner, Shikha Dave and Harrison Clarke

     WASHINGTON (MNI) - Payrolls growth was much stronger than expected 

in April, following a downward revision to the March rebound and an 

upward revision to the modest February gain. The unemployment rate 

fell to 3.6% from 3.8% in March. 

     Hourly earnings growth was a bit softer than expected, but followed 

an upward revision in the previous month, keeping the year/year rate to 

3.2%. 

     Here are some of the key takeaways from the data released Friday: 

     - April payrolls data were stronger than expected, posting a 

263,000 gain compared with the 190,000 Bloomberg consensus and MNI 

survey median. This followed a downward revision to March (+189k vs 

+196k prev) and upward revision to February (+56k vs +33k prev) for a 

net upward revision of 16,000. 

     - Hourly earnings rose 0.2% after the March gain was revised up to 

0.2%. The Bloomberg consensus and MNI surveys both looked for 0.3% gain. 

As a result, the year/year rate for earnings was unchanged at 3.2%. 

Average hours worked fell slightly to 34.4 hours in April after 

rebounding to 34.5 hours in March. 

     - The unemployment rate fell to 3.6% vs 3.8% expected, as the labor 

force participation rate fell to 62.8% from 63.0%. The size of the labor 

force fell by 490,000, with the number of employed falling modestly and 

the number of unemployed falling sharply. 

     - Private payrolls rose by 236,000 in April, compared with a 

185,000 increase expected by both Bloomberg and an MNI survey, with 

health care and leisure jobs among the key gains. Weakness could be seen 

in retail. 

     ** MNI Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 ** 

[TOPICS: MAUDS$,M$U$$$,MAUDR$]