US EditionU.S. economy adds 178,000 jobs in March, more than expected; unemployment rate drops to 4.3%
The gain beat forecasts by nearly threefold, and 31,000 striking Kaiser Permanente workers returned to work as unemployment edged down.
- The U.S. economy added 178,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in March, a figure that nearly tripled consensus forecasts of 60,000 and marked a sharp reversal from the revised 133,000 jobs lost in February.
- The national unemployment rate edged down to 4.3% from 4.4%, suggesting that the labor market remains resilient even as geopolitical tensions and domestic strikes continue to impact specific sectors like healthcare and government.
- Much of the growth was driven by the return of healthcare workers following early-year strikes and a recovery in construction and hospitality, offsetting continued weakness in manufacturing and transportation.
- Employers announced 60,620 layoffs in March, up 25% from February, with AI adoption driving a quarter of the cuts; hiring plans rose 157% to 32,826, per the Challenger report.
- Uncertainty over the Iran conflict could push firms to pull back on hiring, while Fed Chair Jerome Powell noted "there's downside risk to the labor market" earlier this week amid inflation concerns.
67 Articles
67 Articles
March jobs report beats expectations, but labor shocks could still come
The U.S. labor market added a much better than expected 178,000 jobs in March, and the unemployment rate changed little at 4.3%, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. The number of unemployed people, at 7.2 million, changed little in March, another sign that the U.S. economy remains resilient even as the war in Iran has sent oil prices surging. The US jobs market remains relatively strong “The headline numbers for March in this r…
Employment in the US rebounded in March with 178,000 new jobs, exceeding estimates and showing mixed signals in the economy
March Job Gains Mask a Volatile Labor Market as Iran War Chaos Mounts
Today’s jobs report shows the labor market added 178,000 jobs in March, and February’s losses significantly revised down, revealing a decrease of 133,000 jobs. The unemployment rate remained mostly unchanged at 4.3%, with unemployment at its weakest pace since 2020. As hiring stalls, the share of workers who say it’s harder to find jobs has increased sharply, and the number of workers who have given up on the labor market entirely increased by 4…
(New York = Yonhap News) Correspondent Lee Ji-heon = Contrary to concerns that soaring oil prices due to a U.S.-Iran war could lead to an economic slowdown, the U.S. employment situation in March...
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