“This underscores the Federal Reserve’s concerns about the economy,” said Diane Swonk, the chief economist at Mesirow Financial. “There’s still a lot of slack; the spending power’s not there.” Ms. Swonk estimated that 10 to 20 percent of the job gains were because of an unseasonably warm winter, essentially borrowing from spring’s normal uptick in activity.

But things are looking up for Martin Okekearu, 58, an engineer in Kansas City, Mo., who has had long dry spells in his eight-month search for work. In the last two weeks, he said, he has received two promising leads from manufacturing firms in the area. One found his résumé on the local employment center’s Web site. It had been posted there for six months.

Mr. Okekearu, who has a master’s degree in engineering management, was relieved to find that either job would make use of his skills. “My younger son says: ‘Daddy, they talk about somebody educated — you are one of them. They talk about somebody experienced — you are one of them,’ ” he said.

Others said it had become easier to find income, but only via temporary or freelance jobs.

“My feelings are mixed about the recovery,” said Pam Sexton, 45, also of Kansas City, who was laid off by Sprint in 2009. “So far, I’ve managed to find work, but a full-time, permanent job is somehow elusive to me.”

Temporary hiring, often a precursor to permanent hiring, increased by 45,000 jobs. “Companies are more and more interested in converting people from temp to full time,” said Tig Gilliam, chief executive of the Adecco Group North America, a staffing company. “That’s a really good indicator.”

Competition for highly skilled workers is on the rise, according to Applied Predictive Technologies, a technology company in Virginia that is planning to add 60 workers, mostly recent college graduates, to its staff of 150.

“The sense of nervousness and caution that people felt a couple of years ago has really dissipated,” said Catherine Baker, senior vice president for marketing and administration. “There’s a real war for talent going on."