What to watch in April U.S. jobs report
Gain of 135,000 expected; another soft number would raise alarm

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The economy seemed on the verge of ramping up job creation to the highest level since the recession until March’s disappointing employment report. The latest jobs numbers for April might help explain if the slower pace of hiring in March was a temporary dip or another sign of a softening economy.

The U.S. likely added a net 135,000 jobs in April, up from an initially reported 88,000 in March, according to economists polled by MarketWatch. And the odds of the March numbers be revised somewhat higher are pretty good.

Still, the U.S. needs to add more than 200,000 jobs a month — its average from November through February — to drive unemployment down to precession levels under 6%. The economy has to add more than 100,000 jobs a month just to keep up with the natural growth of the labor force. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/what-to-watc...beforebell