Posted: April 7, 2023 at 8:35 a.m. ET
The numbers: The US added a solid 236,000 new jobs in March, defying the Federal Reserve’s hopes of a significant slowdown in hiring and possibly making it harder for the central bank to tame inflation.
Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had expected 238,000 new jobs.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate fell to 3.5% from 3.6%.
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Numbers: The US added a solid 236,000 new jobs in March, defying the Federal Reserve’s hopes of a significant slowdown in hiring and possibly making it harder for the central bank to tame inflation.
Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had expected 238,000 new jobs.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate fell to 3.5% from 3.6%.
Wages rose 0.3% last month.
The Big Picture: The US economy is showing further signs of deterioration.
Manufacturers have cut production, for example, and arguably are already in the doldrums. The much larger service side of the economy has been under more pressure lately.
The United States is still growing at the moment, however, and the job market remains an oasis of strength.
Low unemployment and high wages allowed Americans to keep spending. So far, they have steered the economy out of a widely expected recession.
Market reaction: Ahead of the report, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA
and the S&P 500
SPX
It is set to open lower in pre-market trading. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note
TMUBMUSD10Y
decreased to 3.28%.