According to CNN Business, US companies added only 236,000 jobs in March, falling short of predictions and signaling that the labor market is cooling off under the Federal Reserve’s year-long rate-hiking effort to reduce inflation.
As per the Bureau of Labor Statistics March jobs report, which was released on Friday, the unemployment rate fell to 3.5%. According to Refinitiv, economists expected a net gain of 239,000 jobs for the month and a jobless rate of 3.6%. CNN Business reported that this is the first jobs report in a year that fell short of forecasts. While the US employment market has remained strong despite other sections of the economy contracting as a result of interest rate hikes, it is beginning to cool.
“The labor market in March came in like a lion with a banking crisis and more layoffs and is leaving like a lamb with a solid jobs report. The labor market is still strong, but it’s easing back to Earth,” Glassdoor’s head economist Daniel Zhao said in a statement.
As per CNN Business, the labor market has experienced a net increase of more than 4.1 million jobs over the last year, with an average of 345,417 positions added per month, assisting in lowering the jobless rate to decades-low levels.
The March total is a significant decrease from February’s upwardly revised 326,000 job gains and January’s monster job tally – originally 517,000 but later reduced to 472,000,
the 236,000 employment gains in March were the weakest monthly gains since a dip in December 2020. It’s the smallest monthly job gain since December 2019, excluding the losses seen during the first year of the pandemic.
The job market, however, remains above pre-pandemic levels: Between 2010 and 2019, the economy added 183,000 jobs each month on average.
In a statement issued Friday morning, President Joe Biden termed the March employment report “good jobs report for hardworking Americans.”
CNN Business mentioned that businesses such as leisure and hospitality, health care, and government continue to lead the way in terms of job growth.