U.S. employers pulled back on hiring in April for the second straight month, a sobering reminder that the economy remains weak. The unemployment rate fell to 8.1 percent, but only because more people gave up looking for work. 
 
 The Labor Department says employers added 115,000 jobs in April. That's below March's upwardly revised 154,000 jobs and far fewer than the pace from earlier this year. 
 
 The unemployment rate has fallen a full percentage point since August to a three-year low. But last month's decline was not due to job growth. The government only counts people as unemployed if they are actively looking for work. 
 
 In April, the percentage of adults working or looking for work fell to the lowest level in more than 30 years.. ||||| National Archives 
 
 Yes, it’s that time again, folks. It’s the first Friday of the month, when for one ever-so-brief moment the interests of Wall Street, Washington and Main Street are all aligned on one thing: Jobs. 
 
 A fresh update on the U.S. employment situation for April hits the wires at 8:30 a.m. New York time, offering one of the most important snapshots on how the economy fared during the first month of 2012. Expectations are for 168,000 new jobs to be created, according to economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires, compared to 120,000 jobs added in March. The unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 8.2%. 
 
 Here at MarketBeat HQ, we’ll be offering color commentary and tracking the markets before and after the data crosses the wires. Feel free to weigh-in yourself, via the comments section. And while you’re here, why don’t you sign up to follow us on Twitter. 
 
 Enjoy the show.
– The unemployment rate fell to 8.1% in April, the lowest it’s been since January 2009, the Wall Street Journal reports. But that still gets an "ouch" from blogger Steven Russolillo since just 115,000 jobs were added, when as many as 168,000 had been expected. "It fell below expectations and even came in under the so-called 'whisper numbers,'" which were around 125,000, he writes. Plus, Paul Vigna adds, the unemployment rate has fallen in part because more people are "dropping out of the labor force," with the participation rate falling to 63.6%. The better news: Jobs for March and February were both revised upward, to 154,000 and 259,000, respectively. Even so, the AP points out, this is the second consecutive month of slow hiring, proving that the economy is still weak.