Data released by the U.S. Department of labor on the 6th showed that the U.S. unemployment rate was flat at 3.6% month on month in April this year, with 428000 new jobs in the non-agricultural sector. However, due to the month on month decline of labor participation rate, the relationship between labor supply and demand in the U.S. job market continues to deteriorate. The data show that compared with February 2020, the unemployment rate in the United States is still 0.1 percentage point higher and the number of unemployed is 200000 higher. At the same time, the number of long-term unemployed people who had been unemployed for more than 27 weeks reached 1.5 million, significantly higher than the level before the COVID-19. By industry, in April, the employment of leisure and hotel industry increased by 78000 month on month, the employment of retail trade industry increased by 29000, and the employment of manufacturing industry increased by 55000. The data also showed that the labor participation rate in the United States decreased by 0.2 percentage points to 62.2% month on month in April, 1.2 percentage points lower than before the epidemic. The average hourly salary of employees continued to rise, with a month on month increase of 0.3% to US $31.85. In the past 12 months, the average hourly salary of employees has increased by 5.5%, but it is still lower than the growth rate of inflation, highlighting that the high inflation environment in the United States has not improved. Analysts believe that the labor force participation rate fell month on month for the first time since March 2021, indicating that the proportion of people who are employed or actively looking for work has decreased, and the high tension between labor supply and demand in the U.S. job market continues to deteriorate. According to the data previously released by the labor department, there are 11.5 million vacant jobs in the U.S. job market, but the corresponding available labor force is only 5.9 million. The serious mismatch between labor supply and demand will not only make it difficult for enterprises to recruit, but also further push up employee salaries and exacerbate the severe situation of inflation, which is unfavorable to the U.S. economic recovery. (Xinhua News Agency)