Unemployment Falls to 8.1%, but News Not All Good

The unemployment rate fell to 8.1% in April, the lowest it’s been since January 2009, the Wall Street Journal reports. But that still gets an "ouch" from blogger Steven Russolillo since just 115,000 jobs were added, when as many as 168,000 had been expected. "It fell below expectations and even came in under the so-called 'whisper numbers,'" which were around 125,000, he writes.

Plus, Paul Vigna adds, the unemployment rate has fallen in part because more people are "dropping out of the labor force," with the participation rate falling to 63.6%. The better news: Jobs for March and February were both revised upward, to 154,000 and 259,000, respectively. Even so, the AP points out, this is the second consecutive month of slow hiring, proving that the economy is still weak. (More unemployment stories.)