Hiring probably rose, manufacturing cooled: US economy preview

Payrolls up by 150,000 workers after an 88,000 gain in March

Employers probably hired more workers in April than in the prior month and the jobless rate held at a four-year low, showing the early stages of government budget cuts failed to destabilise the US labour market, economists said before reports this week.

Payrolls increased by 150,000 workers after an 88,000 gain in March, according to the median forecast from 70 economists surveyed by Bloomberg before a May 3 Labor Department report. The unemployment rate may have stayed at 7.6 per cent, matching March's reading as the lowest since December 2008. Other figures may show manufacturing cooled as companies reined in stockpiling on concern demand will deteriorate.

Employers took on staff even amid signs that cuts in planned federal spending are restraining business investment in new equipment. The expansion may slow this quarter, which means hiring won't keep accelerating, preventing the jobless rate from retreating to a level Federal Reserve officials deem optimal.

"The labour market had a very strong February, a disappointing March and now things are looking better," said Harm Bandholz, chief US economist at UniCredit Group in New York. While better than in March, the recent pace of hiring is still weaker than the 197,000 average increase in payrolls from September to February.