US Economy Adds Hotter-Than-Expected 228,000 New Jobs in March

The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2 percent from 4.1 percent.

A "Now Hiring" sign at a restaurant in Royal Oak, Mich., on Oct. 12, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The U.S. labor market remained robust in March amid market turmoil and growing economic concerns, new data show.

Last month, the economy created 228,000 new jobs, up from a downwardly adjusted 117,000 positions in February. This is higher than the average monthly gain of 158,000 over the past 12 months and came in much higher than the consensus forecast of 135,000.

The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2 percent from 4.1 percent.

According to FactSet, the median estimates indicated 130,000 new jobs and an unemployment rate of 4.2 percent.

Average hourly earnings rose by 0.3 percent monthly, in line with market expectations. On a year-over-year basis, the increase in average hourly earnings eased to 3.8 percent from 4 percent.

The labor force participation rate edged up to 62.5 percent from 62.4 percent. Average weekly hours were unchanged at 34.2, matching the market estimate.

“The economy is starting to roar with a strong 228,000 jobs added in the month of March — well ahead of the market’s expectation,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

There was also a sharp increase in transportation, construction, and warehousing employment. The President’s push to onshore jobs here in the United States is working. The Golden Age of America is on its way!”

Employment gains were led by the health care sector, with 54,000 new jobs. This was followed by social assistance (24,000), retail (24,000), and transportation and warehousing (23,000).

While overall government payrolls climbed by 19,000, federal employment fell by 4,000, following a February drop of 11,000.

Full-time employment levels surged by 459,000, while employed part-time workers declined by 44,000.

The number of individuals working two or more jobs increased by 76,000.

Over the past several years, the gap between employed U.S.- and foreign-born workers widened. The number of employed native-born people surged by 944,000 from a year ago. Likewise, employed foreign-born workers soared by approximately 1.1 million from March 2024.

The number of long-term unemployed—individuals out of work for 27 weeks or more—was little changed at 1.5 million but accounted for more than 21 percent of all jobless people.

Cooling Yet Stable

According to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report, the number of job vacancies tumbled by 194,000 to a lower-than-expected 7.568 million in February, down from an upwardly adjusted 7.762 million. However, this is higher than the pre-pandemic level.

Job quits—a gauge of workers leaving their positions and a possible indicator of their confidence in finding a new job—slipped by 61,000 to 3.195 million. Hiring and layoffs were little changed, though government job cuts spiked to 22,000 from 4,000 in January.

Global recruitment firm Challenger, Gray, and Christmas reported 275,240 planned layoffs by U.S.-based employers last month. But while this was the highest number of intended job cuts since May 2020, three-quarters were driven by reductions in the federal workforce.

“Job cut announcements were dominated last month by DOGE plans to eliminate positions in the federal government. It would have otherwise been a fairly quiet month for layoffs,” Andrew Challenger, senior vice president for Challenger, Gray, and Christmas, said in a statement.

In addition, since labor data can have a modest lag effect, weekly figures signal a stable employment situation.

Initial jobless claims—a gauge of the number of individuals filing for unemployment benefits for the first time after losing a position—declined by 6,000 to a smaller-than-expected 219,000 for the week ending March 29.

Data compiled by WalletHub suggested that the unemployment situation in the District of Columbia improved, with claims tumbling nearly 20 percent from the previous week.

In the private sector, businesses are still adding to their payrolls.

Payroll processor ADP highlighted in the March National Employment Report that private companies created 155,000 new jobs, nearly double that of February. This was also higher than the consensus forecast of 105,000.

“Although some economic data has softened, the labor market and consumer spending continue to hold up well,” Larry Tentarelli, chief technical strategist for Blue Chip Daily Trend Report, said in an emailed note to The Epoch Times.

Market Reaction

U.S. stocks saw a continued drop as investors digested China’s retaliation of 34 percent tariffs on U.S. exports and shrugged off positive employment data.

“Unfortunately, the market is no longer focused on the jobs market and focused squarely on tariffs and trade wars,” Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Northlight Asset Management, said in an emailed note to The Epoch Times.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, a blue-chip index, was down by more than 1,000 points in pre-market trading. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index and the broader S&P 500 dropped by nearly 3 percent.

The government bond market was red across the board, with the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield crashing below 4 percent for the first time since early October.

The greenback was little changed during the April 4 session. The U.S. dollar index, a gauge of the buck against a weighted basket of currencies, hovered around 102.00. The index remains down by about 6 percent year to date.