The U.S. economy added 303,000 jobs in March, blowing past expectations and indicating that growth remains on firm footing.
The reading represents the largest one-month boost in payrolls since May 2023 and is a significant increase from the 270,000 added in February and 256,000 in January.
Economists had forecast about 200,000 jobs added for March.
The unemployment rate declined slightly to 3.8%, and wage growth came in at 4.1% over the last 12 months, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said.
The strong datapoint may prompt the Federal Reserve to continue to push back the interest rate cuts it had been signaling for this year. Following the release of Friday’s report, traders shifted the odds of the first rate cut of 2024 from June to September.
The strong datapoint could prompt the Federal Reserve to continue to push back the interest rate cuts it had been signaling for this year. In a speech earlier this week, Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell said the central bank was in no rush to start bringing interest rates down, amid ongoing robust economic data and inflation that has persisted above its 2% target.
“We do not expect that it will be appropriate to lower our policy rate until we have greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably down toward 2 percent,” Powell said. “Given the strength of the economy and progress on inflation so far, we have time to let the incoming data guide our decisions on policy.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.