US jobs report will show if hiring is still defying slow GDP

WASHINGTON (AP) – Economists say April was yet another month where hiring took on a life of its own, apparently ignoring anemic economic growth.

The economists surveyed by FactSet have collectively forecast that the economy added a sturdy 200,000 jobs last month and that the unemployment rate remained a low 5 percent.

What’s surprising about the solid pace of hiring is that it coincides with such tepid economic growth. The economy expanded at just a 1 percent annual rate over the past six months.

The disparity between growth and hiring has led some economists to question the validity of the government’s measure of economic growth.

Economists blame the government’s efforts to seasonally adjust its economic growth data to filter out predictable effects, such as a spike in holiday shopping.

Many economists also say jobs are easier to count than economic output.