Paper cutouts of shirts and tiesThe lower unemployment reading was due in part to a factoreconomists don't always see as a healthy sign: The share ofworking-age people in the labor force decreased to 62.8 percentfrom 63 percent. (Photo: Shutterstock)

The U.S. economy accelerated its rebound from a recent softpatch as unemployment unexpectedly fell to a fresh 49-year low amidsurprisingly strong hiring and cooler-than-projected wage gains, suggesting the hot labor market canextend its run.

Payrolls climbed by 263,000 in April after a downwardly revised189,000 advance the prior month, according to a Labor Departmentreport Friday that exceeded all estimates in a Bloomberg survey.The jobless rate unexpectedly fell to 3.6 percent while averagehourly earnings growth was unchanged at 3.2 percent, belowprojections.

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