US unemployment rate drops to 10-year low of 4.4%

Washington

US job growth rebounded sharply in April and the unemployment rate dropped to a near 10-year low of 4.4 per cent, signs of a tightening job market that could seal the case for an interest rate increase next month despite moderate wage growth.

Nonfarm payrolls jumped by 211,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said on Friday, well above the monthly average of 185,000 for this year and a jump from the gain of 79,000 in March.

Job gains were driven by a surge in hiring in the leisure and hospit…