Announced this morning, the economy added 228,000 jobs in March, more than expected but the revision lower of the previous month takes away a bit of the increase. The Health Care and Social Assistance industry and Retail Trade industry were both relatively strong, while the Wholesale Trade industry was relatively weak. The Unemployment Rate ticked one tenth higher to 4.2% and the Labor Force Participation Rate at 62.5% is also one tenth higher than the previous month. Average Hourly Earnings increased 0.3% in March, as expected, and grew 3.8% on an annual basis. In addition, Average Weekly Hours were 34.2, which is the same as the revised figure from the previous month.
Overall, another month where jobs were added to the economy, coupled with a slight increase in the unemployment rate. Wages grew in March, but the annual rate moved lower to slightly below the 50-year average and the participation rate ticked slightly higher.
The March payrolls report suggests the labor market appears in line amidst the uncertainty introduced by the tariff announcement earlier this week. The ability of the labor market to hold up in this environment will be closely watched by the Federal Reserve as a guide for their policy and the ability and willingness of consumers to continue spending will be key for the economy in the coming weeks.
Pre-market trading has been in flux considering the response by China to this week’s tariff announcement, with the yield on the U.S. 10-year treasury dropping below 3.9% but has moved up slightly following the release of the payrolls report. Equity futures are lower as well but also improved following the economic data.
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