Employment Report
Total nonfarm payrolls increased by 244,000 in April, after increasing by an upwardly revised 221,000 in March (originally reported as 216,000). February’s data was revised higher as well, to 235,000, from 194,000 (total revisions pushed total payrolls higher by 46,000 over the past two months.) Total private jobs increased by 268,000 in April (data for the previous two months were revised up by 22,000). The unemployment rate rose from 8.8% in March to 9.0% in April, the first increase since November 2010. Average weekly hours worked remained unchanged at 34.3 hours and average hourly earnings for all employees posted a slight increase of $0.03 for the month of April. Despite the somewhat negative news that the unemployment rate increased to 9.0%, the pace of job creation suggests the labor market will continue to improve.

ISM Manufacturing
The Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) manufacturing index decreased in April to 60.4, from 61.2 in March. April’s decline is the second consecutive monthly decline. However, even with the recent declines the index still remains only slightly below its first quarter average (61.1). New orders dropped to 61.7, production declined by 5.2 points and prices increased. But not all of the news was bad. The manufacturing sector continues to perform well, even with the recent two declines. Some cooling was expected and business confidence remains near record highs.

Factory Orders
New orders for manufactured goods rose 3.0% in March following an increase of 0.7% in February. Orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft, so called core orders, increased 4.1% after gaining 0.9% in February. Shipments increased 2.7% following an increase of 0.6% in February. Shipments of nondurable goods increased 3.1% and durable goods were up 2.1% for the month. Manufacturers’ inventories rose 1.1% in March. Unfilled orders increased slightly by 0.8% from February’s 0.7%. These data indicate that equipment and software investment will remain strong this year.

Consumer Credit
In March total consumer credit grew 3.0% at an annual rate, or $6.0 billion, to a total of $2.426 trillion. The rise in consumer credit was due to an increase in both non-revolving credit and revolving credit. Revolving credit increased 2.9% at an annual rate, after decreasing at a 3.9% rate in February. Non-revolving credit increased at a 3.0% annual rate after increasing at a 7.5% pace in the previous month. Consumer demand for credit picked up in March and consumers even increased their balances of revolving credit, which has been declining for the past few years.