The U.S. unemployment rate climbed to 4.5 percent in April as the economy added the lowest number of new jobs in more than two years, the Labor Department reported Friday.

The report showed that the nation's non-farm payroll employment edged up 88,000 in April, the lowest since a gain of 65,000 jobs registered in November 2004.

For April, "job gains continued in several service-provider industries, including health care and food services, while employment declined in retail trade and manufacturing," said the report.

Job gains in February and March were revised to 90,000 and 177,000 respectively, less than the increases of 113,000 and 180,000 previously estimated.

The U.S. jobless rate has remained within a narrow range of 4.4 percent to 4.6 percent since September 2006. The rate was 4.5 percent in February and 4.4 percent in March.

Meanwhile, average hourly earnings rose to 17.25 U.S. dollars in April, a 0.2-percent gain from March. The increase was smaller than the 0.3- percent rise expected by analysts.

Over the past 12 months workers' wages grew by 3.7 percent, the slowest annual gain in a year.

Analysts say the April employment report suggested that the labor market is starting to feel some of the strain of the sluggish economy. But the weakening in the job market has long been expected at the Federal Reserve, as the central bank has been trying to put inflation in check.

Source: Xinhua