New jobs bring relief to America

THE AMERICAN economy generated 234,000 new jobs in April, a number seen by analysts as healthy, but not too healthy, after Alan Greenspan's warning about the inflationary potential of a tight jobs market. March's figure for non-farm payrolls was revised down to 7,000 from 46,000. The unemployment rate edged up to 4.3 per cent, while hourly earnings rose 3.2 per cent in the year to April. The Treasury bond market reacted with relief to the figures, with the 30-year bond gaining almost a full point.

Earlier, new figures showed an unexpected rise in unemployment in Germany last month. It increased by 10,000 after three months of declines. The unemployment rate rose to 10.6 per cent - 9.0 per cent in the west and 17.2 per cent in the east. Outlook, page 22