The headline rate fell due to a stunning decline in the labor force, the quality of new jobs remained iffy and long-term unemployment is still immune to ultra-easy monetary policy as the average length of joblessness holds at more than 35 weeks.

Friday's nonfarm payroll report was the best in months, with 288,000 new jobs and an unemployment rate dropping all the way down to 6.3 percent.

While the numbers may change, the story of the U.S. labor market ultimately is the same. Job growth continues, but significant weakness remains.

A jobs sign is seen on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Building in Washington.

"The unemployment rate, which fell to 6.3 percent in April from 6.7 percent the prior month, wholly masks the extent of the problem," University of Maryland economist Peter Morici said in an analysis. "The percentage of adults seeking employment dropped precipitously. One out of 6 men between the ages of 25 and 54 are without jobs, and many have given up looking for work and are not counted in the jobless rate."



Read MorePayrolls jump in April as thaw hits jobs market



Among his peers, though, Morici largely stood alone.

Virtually every other economist weighing in on the report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics focused on the positives, seeing the report as indicative of continued healing in the U.S. economy as it travels the long road back from the 2008-09 financial crisis.

PNC economists Stuart Hoffman and Gus Faucher called the report "solid" and predicted revisions probably would take the April numbers past the 300,000 barrier, and there were few voices to dispute the jobs momentum.

"The nature of the crisis was such that the economy was bound to have a restrained expansion. Too much wealth was destroyed," Princeton economist Alan Krueger told CNBC.com. The jobs report "suggests that the economy is going to continue to heal and gather a little momentum despite the weak first-quarter GDP numbers."

Indeed, gross domestic product for the first three months tracked at a tepid 0.1 percent and some economists think the final number actually will be negative.

Read MoreHiring rebounds but more gave up looking for work

As for the labor market, job growth has proceeded apace at 190,000 per month over the past 12 months, and nearly 238,000 for the past three months. In fact, the recent reports pretty well refute the notion that the brutal winter weather was slowing down the economy. Job creation, the numbers show, actually has been well ahead of the former pace.

Yet many are being left behind.

The fall in the labor force participation rate was especially pronounced among minorities and teenagers. The total civilian labor force fell by 806,000. Those working part time for economic reasons remained little changed at 7.5 million. There were 783,000 discouraged workers, a number that has moved very little over the past year.