The U.S. unemployment rate rose to 9.0 percent in April, and nonfarm payroll employment added 244,000 positions, the U.S. Labor Department reported Friday.

The fresh figure was the first increase since last November after dropping to 8.8 percent in March, which was also unexpected. Economists had estimated the unemployment rate would remain unchanged from last month's level.

The employment growth in April was the biggest hiring spree in five years, which was reflected a variety of sectors, including retailing, manufacturing, finance and construction. However, the federal, state and local governments cut jobs.

Total payroll employment has grown by 1.8 million since a recent low in February 2010 while the private sector has added 2.1 million jobs over the same period.

Meanwhile, the change in total payroll employment for February was revised up to 235,000, and the change for March was also revised up to 221,000.

In addition, the number of persons unemployed for less than five weeks increased by 242,000 in April. But the number of long-term unemployed declined by 283,000 to 5.8 million.

In April, 2.5 million people were marginally attached to the labor force, about the same as a year earlier. Among them were 989,000 discouraged workers, decreasing by 208,000 from a year earlier.

According to the latest government data, the U.S. economy grew 1.8 percent in the first quarter this year, weaker than the pace of 3.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said last week that joblessness continues to be a major challenge for economic recovery.

The fresh job creation figure in April suggests U.S. businesses are confident in the economy. However, economists believe that job growth at this pace can not significantly bring down the unemployment rate and the rise in joblessness signalizes that the labor market's recovery is still volatile and fragile.