U.S. adds 164,000 jobs in April, unemployment drops to 3.9 percent

The Labor Department reported that 164,000 jobs were added in April, significantly short of the expected 193,000 jobs, but up from a weather-related slowdown the month before. The unemployment rate fell to 3.9 percent from 4.1 percent, marking the lowest rate since 2000.

"We've continued to add jobs routinely every month for so long, and the unemployment rate we have reached is amazing," the chief economist of job search site ZipRecruiter, Catherine Barrera, told The New York Times. "This is the economy doing well."

The economy only added 103,000 positions in March, but economists dismissed that as a result of a surge in hiring in February, when payrolls grew by 326,000 positions due to unseasonably mild weather.

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