Job gains hit 7-month low

Washington

THE US economy added the fewest number of jobs in seven months in April and Americans dropped out of the labour force in droves, signs of weakness that cast doubts on whether the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates before the end of the year.

Non-farm payrolls increased by 160,000 jobs last month as construction employment barely rose and the retail sector shed jobs, the Labour Department said on Friday.

That was the smallest g…