the numbers the us added a solid 428000 new jobs in april but an acute labor shortage showed little improvement last month and threatens to add to the highest inflation in 40 years economists polled by the wall street journal had forecast 400000 new jobs the unemployment rate was unchanged at 36 the government said friday just a hair above a 54year low the size of the labor force meanwhile shrank in april in a sign of how difficult it is for companies to find workers market reaction the dow jones industrial average and sp 500 were set to open lower in friday trades stocks gyrated wildly in the past two days as investors sought to figure out whether the us economy is sturdy enough to withstand a rapid increase in interest rates by the federal reserve