Economy adds 428,000 jobs in April even as COVID cases edge higher, unemployment is unchanged at 3.6%

Employers added 428,000 jobs in April, extending a streak of booming payroll gains despite a recent uptick in COVID-19 cases, persistent worker shortages and the war in Ukraine.

The unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.6%, the Labor Department said Friday.

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had estimated that 390,000 jobs were added last month.

The nation has recouped 20.8 million, or 95%, of the 22 million jobs lost early in the health crisis, leaving it 1.2 million jobs short of its pre-pandemic level. The deficit could be closed by summer.

Job growth averaged more than half a million a month in the first quarter as the pandemic eased following the surge in cases triggered by the omicron variant. And the economy now has added more than 400,000 jobs a month for 12 months, the longest such streak on record.