Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

The economy added 290,000 jobs in April, the biggest monthly net gain in four years.

The chart above shows job changes in this recession compared with recent ones, with the blue line representing the current downturn. The line has ticked upward, but still has a long way to go before the job market fully recovers to its pre-recession level. Since the downturn began in December 2007, the economy has shed, on net, about 5.6 percent of its nonfarm payroll jobs.

The unemployment rate (measured by a different government survey, and based on how many people are without jobs but are looking for work) rose slightly to 9.9 percent in April. The divergence between the payroll growth and the rising unemployment rate is partly because more people are joining (or rejoining) the labor force and looking for jobs.