Out of work

Layoffs slow, but unemployment climbs

WASHINGTON — The pace of layoffs slowed in April when employers cut 539,000 jobs, the fewest in six months. But the unemployment rate climbed to 8.9 percent, the highest since late 1983, as many businesses remain wary of hiring given all the economic uncertainties.

The Labor Department tally released Friday wasn’t nearly as deep as the 620,000 job cuts that economists were expecting, and was helped by a burst of federal government hiring of temporary workers to prepare for the 2010 Census. The rise in the unemployment rate from 8.5 percent in March matched economists’ forecasts.

The new report underscored the toll the longest recession since World War II has taken on America’s workers and companies. However, the slowdown in layoffs may bolster expectations that the worst of the downturn’s hefty job losses are past.

“Although we have a long way to go before we can put this recession behind us, the gears of our economic engine do seem to be slowly turning once again,” President Barack Obama said Friday hours after the employment report was released.

On Wall Street, the employment news gave stocks a lift. The Dow Jones industrials gained about 120 points in afternoon trading.

“There are glimmers of hope. We are moving in the right direction in terms of layoffs. They are measurably less bad than what we’ve been through,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com.

Still, companies will remain cautious in hiring, making it harder for laid-off workers to find new jobs.

If laid-off workers who have given up looking for new jobs or have settled for part-time work are included, the unemployment rate would have been 15.8 percent in April, the highest on records dating back to 1994. The total number of unemployed now stands at 13.7 million, up from 13.2 million in March.

Companies also kept a tight rein on workers’ hours. The average workweek in April stayed at 33.2 hours, matching the record low set in March.

Since the recession began in December 2007, the economy has lost a net total of 5.7 million jobs.

As the recession eats into sales and profits, companies have turned to layoffs and other cost-cutting measures to survive the storm. Those including holding down workers’ hours and freezing or cutting pay.

Job losses in February and March turned out to be deeper, according to revised figures. Employers cut 681,000 positions in February, 30,000 more than previously reported. They cut 699,000 jobs in March, more than the 663,000 first reported.

The deepest job cuts of the recession — 741,000 — came in January. That was the most since the fall of 1949.

Employers last month cut the fewest jobs since 380,000 in October. Nonetheless, the April job losses were widespread.