Summary:
Employers add 98,000 jobs to their payrolls in March
March payroll print unusually low in the backdrop of strong growth in the labor markets
January payrolls revised from 238k to 216k; February payrolls revised from 235k to 219k
Combined net revision shows 38k net decline in jobs over the past two months
Average hourly paycheck of workers grew $0.05 cents from the previous month
Average hourly earnings rise 2.7% from a year ago
In a rather surprise payrolls data, latest figures from the US Bureau of labor statistics showed that the pace of employer hiring slowed down sharply in the month of March amid mixed signals which also saw the unemployment rate falling the lowest level in a decade.
The nonfarm payrolls rose 98,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis in March from the previous month. January and February payrolls were revised down to show a net decline of 38k. Economists polled were forecasting a headline payrolls print of 175k.
The US unemployment rate
The US unemployment rate dropped to 4.5%, from 4.7% in February. The unemployment rate in March was the lowest since May 2007.
The average hourly earnings rose 2.7% in March on a year over year basis. The gains in wages were seen to be steadily accelerating in recent month, but remain shy of December’s print of 2.9%, which was the strongest since June 2009.
Read more: https://www.orbex.com/blog/2017/04/march-nonfarm-payrolls-mixed-hiring-slows/