Jobless rate for women hits lowest level since 1953

Several demographic groups benefited from strong job gains in April, including women, Asians and Hispanics.

The jobless rate for adult women fell to 3.1%, the lowest level since 1953. The rate for Americans of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, which can include all races, dropped to 4.2%—the lowest level on records since 1973.

Asians posted a jobless rate of 2.2%, which matches a low hit in May 2018.

The jobless rate for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan tumbled to 1.7%, the lowest level on records since 2006. That decline was due both to more veterans finding jobs and others no longer looking for work and therefore not counted as unemployed.

The Labor Department said Friday that all told, employers added a robust 263,000 jobs in April. The overall unemployment rate fell to 3.6 percent, the lowest level since December 1969.

The data for demographic groups came from a survey of households that is part of the Labor Department's monthly jobs report.