in addition, growth in household spending slowed noticeably early in the year, despite solid ,ncreases in household income as well as relatively high levels of consumer sentiment and wealth. fortunately, the first quarter slowdown in household spending appears to be temporary, indicators that the second quarter have so far pointed to a sizable rebound. this recovery is a key factor supporting the committee's that overall economic activity will expand at a moderate pace over the next few years. despite lackluster economic growth, the job market continued to improve early in the year. the first quarter, job gains averaged nearly 200,000 per month, just a bit slower than last year's pace. and the unemployment rate held near 5%, even though notably more people were actively looking for work. more recently, the pace of improvement in the labor market appears to have slowed markedly. job gains in april and they are estimated to have averaged only about 80,000 per month. while the unemployment rate fell to 4.7% in may, that decline occurred because fewer people reported that they were activel