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The U.S. economy added 288,000 jobs in April, taking the unemployment rate to 6.3 percent, the lowest it has been since September 2008. Americans gained the most jobs and at the fastest pace in the last two years, with April being the best month of job creation since January 2012 and the second best since mid-2009, after the economy emerged from the recession. Economists polled by Bloomberg had estimated a 218,000 increase in non-farm payrolls, with the unemployment falling only 0.1 percent to 6.6 percent. April’s numbers were far better than estimates, suggesting the economy was moving out of its winter rut. The Labor Department also revised the numbers for February and March, and they were higher than previously estimated. The economy added 203,000 jobs in March, up from the 192,000 initially reported and 222,000 in February, up from 197,000. But the good news was dampened a little by the drop of 806,000 Americans from the labor force, pushing the labor participation rate down sharply. Also, average hourly earning did not rise. Construction and retail saw strong growth last month, adding 32,000 and 35,000 jobs respectively. Professional and business services added another 75,000 jobs combined, a count closely followed by economists who consider them a barometer for white-collar activity. The numbers are sure to boost expectations for growth this quarter, with many economists estimating a 3 percent growth in the U.S. economy. Friday’s report offers hope for such estimations.

BizBuySell.com’s First Quarter 2014 Insight Report shows continued strong business-for-sale activity, well above historical levels, following 2013’s record-breaking year. BizBuySell.com the Internet’s largest business-for-sale marketplace, reported today that small business transactions remained at high levels in the first quarter of 2014, continuing the growth trend that began in Q1 of 2013. Participating business brokers reported 1,726 closed transactions in Q1 2014, marking the fifth straight quarter to exceed 1,600 transactions, a benchmark that had not previously been reached since before the start of the Great Recession in 2008. In fact, immediately after the recession began, reported transaction activity dropped significantly, with transaction totals for 2009 and 2010 dropping to an average of 1,126 reported transactions per quarter. There was only a very small improvement in the next few years as an average of 1,182 businesses changed hands per quarter in 2011 and 2012. At the outset of 2013, the recovery finally truly took hold and in the last 5 quarters, an average of 1,756 small businesses have closed, an average of 52% more per quarter than seen during the 2009 to 2012 period. Read more at BizBuySell.com Source: AllBusiness