Rising oil prices have made inflation the more pressing concern for the Federal Reserve recently, though the employment side of its dual mandate bears watching amid volatility in recent nonfarm payrolls reports. That's why the April jobs report is a key economic report to monitor.
In January, for instance, the U.S. added 160,000 new positions. And in February, it lost a downwardly revised 156,000 jobs. March job gains came in at 185,000, upwardly revised from the initial report.
