Employers added 164,000 new nonfarm jobs in April vs. 103,000 hires in March, as the unemployment rate dipped to 3.9 percent after holding at 4.1 percent for six straight months, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Employment growth led the way in healthcare, manufacturing, mining and professional and business services.

In April, black adult workers’ unemployment rate fell to 6.6 percent from 6.9 percent in March. The April jobless rate for white workers was 3.6 percent, matching March’s rate. The jobless rate for Hispanic adults was 4.8 percent in April, down from 5.1 percent in March.

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was unchanged at 1.3 million in April, matching March’s total. April’s jobless total accounted for 20 percent of the total unemployed persons compared with 20.3 percent in March. Long-term unemployment declined 340,000 during the past year.

The BLS jobs report of falling unemployment indicates a tightening of the labor market, and the endurance of an expansion since the Great Recession ended in June 2009.

In April, average hourly earnings for all workers on private nonfarm payrolls rose four cents to $26.84. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings are up 67 cents, or 2.6 percent, the BLS reports.

The employment-to-population ratio (the share of the labor force now employed vs. the total working-age population) dipped to 60.3 percent in April from 60.4 percent in March.

The payrolls of small businesses with 1-49 employees grew 62,000 jobs in April vs. 47,000 new hires in March, 68,000 in February and 58,000 in January, according to the ADP National Employment Report.

Midsize firms of 50-499 workers hired 88,000 employees in April compared with 127,000 in March, 97,000 in February and 91,000 in January. Companies with 500 or more employees added 54,000 workers in April compared with 67,000 new hires in March, 70,000 in February and 91,000 in January.

According to ADP’s April report, service jobs grew 160,000 in April vs. 176,000 in March 198,000 in February and 212,000 in January. Professional/business services led the way in April, adding 58,000 in April compared with 43,000 jobs in March, 46,000 in February and 46,000 in January.

The goods-producing sector hired 44,000 new workers in April vs. 65,000 in March, 37,000 in February and 22,000 in January. Manufacturing payrolls grew by 10,000 jobs in April compared with 29,000 in March, 14,000 in February and 12,000 in January

ADP’s National Employment Report delivers a monthly snapshot of America’s nonfarm private sector employment from actual transactional payroll data, according to the ADP Research Institute that collaborates with Moody’s Analytics. ADP report’s differs from the BLS methodology that surveys firms and households.

"The labor market continues to maintain a steady pace of strong job growth with little sign of a slowdown," said Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-head of the ADP Research Institute. "However, as the labor pool tightens it will become increasingly difficult for employers to find skilled talent."

This trend is what economists call a labor market tightening. It can buoy the bargaining power of workers to earn wage increases. There are other factors to consider as well.

"Despite rising trade tensions, more volatile financial markets, and poor weather, businesses are adding a robust more than 200,000 jobs per month," said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, which co-produce the monthly report with ADP, in a statement. "The tight labor market continues to tighten. At this pace, unemployment will soon be in the threes, which is rarified and risky territory, as the economy threatens to overheat."

For Zandi, economic overheating is inflation, or rising pay and prices, as the jobless rate declines. The Federal Reserve Bank wants to avoid an inflationary spiral by raising the cost to borrow money, a policy in part to slow payroll growth.