“Hiring Now!” A sign displays next to the Jiffy Lube International booth at the Job News USA career fair in Overland Park, Kansas.
Luke Schallert | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Job creation in March handily topped expectations, a sign that a busy and resilient labor market continues to accelerate.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday that nonfarm payroll employment increased by 303,000 this month, much higher than the 200,000 increase expected by Dow Jones and higher than February’s downwardly revised increase of 270,000.
Although the labor force participation rate rose to 62.7%, up 0.2 percentage points from February, the unemployment rate fell slightly to 3.8%, in line with expectations. A broader measure that includes discouraged workers and those working part-time for financial reasons was steady at 7.3%.
In a key measure of average hourly earnings, wages rose 0.3% for the month and 4.1% from the same period last year, both in line with Wall Street expectations.
The job growth came from many common industries that have driven job growth in recent months. Healthcare leads the way with 72,000 people, followed by government (71,000), leisure and hospitality (49,000) and construction (39,000). Retail trade contributed 18,000, while the “other services” category increased by 16,000.
Markets have been keeping a close eye on the jobs data, especially as the Federal Reserve weighs the next steps for monetary policy. Stocks fell this week on worries that a strong labor market and a resilient economy could keep central banks on hold for longer than expected.
Stock futures rose after the report, as did U.S. Treasury yields.
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