WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. unemployment rate plunged in April to its lowest level since September 2008 as employers added 288,000 jobs, the most in two years. 
 
 The figures are a clear sign that the economy is picking up after a brutal winter slowed growth. 
 
 The Labor Department says the unemployment rate fell to 6.3 percent from 6.7 percent in March. But the drop occurred because the number of people working or seeking work fell sharply. People not seeking work aren't counted as unemployed. 
 
 Employers also added more jobs in February and March than previously estimated. The job totals for those two months were revised up by a combined 36,000. 
 
 Job creation is accelerating: Employers added an average of 238,000 jobs the past three months. That's up from 167,000 in the previous three. ||||| Friday’s jobs report was the most important in a while – and it was terrible. 
 
 DAVID LEONHARDT Follow David Leonhardt on Twitter at @DLeonhardt. When the jobs market weakened in March and April, economists could tell a sensible story about why the weakening wasn’t as severe as it looked. The unusually warm weather had caused people to spend more money than they had planned, pulling forward economic activity – and hiring – into late 2011 and early 2012. The slowdown in March and April seemed as if it might simply be payback, rather than a truly worrisome new trend. 
 
 But you can’t tell that story anymore. Some combination of problems – Europe’s new troubles, the rise in gas prices from several months ago, the continued cuts in government employment, the continued hangover from the financial crisis – has clearly slowed the economy. You can look at either survey that the Labor Department does, of businesses or households, and you can look at any time period. The message is the same. 
 
 For the third straight year, the economy has fallen into a spring slump. 
 
 Over the last three months, the economy has added an average of only 96,000 jobs a month, down from a three-month average of 252,000 in February. The growth of the last three months is the weakest since August. It’s weaker than the three-month growth in most of 2011 and half of 2010. 
 
 Job growth in the private sector has slowed, while the federal government and local governments are cutting workers. (State governments are no longer cutting, but they are not adding many, either.) 
 
 What happens now? Don’t expect much action from Congress, despite the talk you will hear on Friday. The jobs numbers will certainly raise the odds of further action by the Federal Reserve, but it’s not clear by how much. Perhaps most important, the decisions of European policy makers loom even larger now. ||||| April jobs up 211,000, unemployment rate falls to 4.4% 8:54 AM ET Fri, 5 May 2017 | 01:36 
 
 Job creation in April bounced back from a disappointing March, with nonfarm payrolls growing by 211,000 while the unemployment rate fell to 4.4 percent, its lowest since May 2007. 
 
 Economists surveyed by Reuters had been expecting payroll growth of 185,000 and the headline jobless rate to tick up one-tenth to 4.6 percent. The payroll increase nearly tripled the dismal March number. 
 
 Market experts believe the report likely cements an imminent interest rate hike. 
 
 "The market has sorely needed a shot of unambiguously positive 'hard' data," Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial, said in a statement. "This morning's employment report suggests the Fed will most certainly move in June." 
 
 Wages grew seven cents an hour to an annualized pace of 2.5 percent. 
 
 The unemployment rate dropped even as the labor force participation rate edged lower to 62.9 percent. The employment-to-population ratio increased to 60.2 percent, its best showing of 2017 and the highest level since February 2009. 
 
 "This just adds to the perception that it's going to be easier and easier to find a job if you want one these days," said Brian Coulton, chief economist at Fitch Ratings. "It's job security that causes people to ask for wage rises. If it's easier for them to get a job outside their company, they're more likely to push for higher wages." 
 
 An alternative reading on the unemployment rate that includes those not actively looking for jobs as well as those working part-time for economic reasons dropped to 8.6 percent from 8.9 percent in March, the best reading since November 2007. Those counted as not in the labor force swelled to 94.4 million but that was countered by an increase of 156,000 counted as employed, according to the household survey.
– Today's jobs report shook out far better than economists had expected: In April, 288,000 jobs were created, and the unemployment rate dropped to 6.3% from 6.7%. The expectations had been 215,000 and 6.6%, the Wall Street Journal reports. Those 288,000 jobs mark the fastest job growth pace in more than two years—and as for the 6.3% unemployment rate, that's the lowest in five-and-a-half years, the AP reports. But not everyone is celebrating—as Paul Vigna points out, the new jobs number is "the biggest number since we got 360,000 back in January 2012. ... Everybody thought that was a great omen, but where have we gone since then?" And as the AP points out, the sharp drop in the unemployment rate is due to a similarly sharp drop in the number of people seeking work. There was more good news to be had, though, in the revisions for the prior two months: February's new jobs were revised to 222,000 (up from 197,000), and March's were revised to 203,000 (up from 192,000).