5 takeaways from the March Employment Report

While the United States economy continues to slow, according to data from the latest jobs report it is still ended the first quarter on a solid footing. Economists had been expecting the US to add 200,000 jobs in March but once again the reported number blew past what was forecasted delivering 303,000 new hires.

Other data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics report fell in line with what had been predicted. But here are some points that stood out.

5 takeaways from the March Employment Report

The 303,000 new payrolls in March exceeded even the 275,000 jobs added the month before. However, the latter amount was revised down by 5,000. This has been a trend running counter to the historical one where the final numbers are lower than those reported initially.

Job gains in construction, healthcare and government outpaced their 12-month averages. Likewise, new payrolls in leisure and hospitality beat their average growth over the prior 12 months and the number of people employed in the industry has returned to its pre-pandemic level.

The unemployment rate was little changed coming in at 3.8% in March, lower than the 3.9% predicted but higher than the 3.7% registered in January. That makes 26 months that the figure has been below 4%, the longest such stretch since the 1960s.

Wages saw an uptick in March rising 0.3% month-over-month compared with 0.1% the previous month. However, the pace of wage growth year-over-year has been slowing now at 4.1% versus 4.3% in February.

Despite some weakening in the economic data, the solid numbers mean that the Federal Reserve could hold off cutting interest rates for longer. Policymakers forecast three rate cuts in 2024 with the first on expected in June. However, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that the US central bank is in no hurry to lower rates as it works to bring inflation down to its 2% target.