Jobs report: Employment growing, but paychecks not so much

The U.S. economy continued to put Americans back to work last month. But the pace of job growth slowed, and the fastest hiring is coming from some of the worst-paying industries.

The nation's nonfarm payrolls expanded by an estimated 160,000 jobs last month, the smallest gain since September and less than the average monthly pace of 200,000 jobs a month in the first quarter of 2016.

The number missed estimates. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls rising by 202,000 in April. The latest report showed the jobless rate unchanged at 5 percent.

That's a big improvement from the 10 percent peak of unemployment in the depths of the Great Recession. Seven years after the recession ended, roughly 14 million new jobs have been created, and some 200,000 new paychecks are being produced each month. First-time applications for unemployment benefits are at their lowest levels since 1973.

But over the past 12 months, some of fastest job growth has been coming from some of the lowest-paying industries.

At the same time, growth has slowed in higher-wage industries. Last month, mining payrolls fell 7,000, extending losses from the drop in oil prices. Mining employment has dropped by 191,000 jobs since peaking in September 2014, with 75 percent of the losses in support activities.

Gains in construction employment slowed sharply in April, with just 1,000 net new jobs added, after signs that homebuilding may be decelerating.

Wage gains have also been slower for those with the lowest-paying jobs.

Since 2005, the median weekly wage for all workers has risen to $872, a gain of $176, according to the latest government data. For those with an advanced degree, the median wage rose during that period to $1,445 a week, up $269. Those with less than a high school degree saw their weekly pay rise to $502, a gain of only $98.