March US Jobs Report: 303,000 Rise In Payrolls, Stronger Than Expected

The US economy added 303,000 jobs in March, according to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The government’s report revised down previous estimates for new job creation in February but revised up hiring in January.

The unemployment rate ticked down to 3.8% in March from 3.9% in February.

Nonfarm payroll employment had been forecast to rise 200,000 vs. its originally reported 275,000 increase in February, according to FactSet. The unemployment rate was forecast to drop to 3.8% in March from 3.9% in February.

March Jobs Report Key Stats

• Total nonfarm payrolls rose by 303,000 vs. a downward-revised 270,000 in February.
• The unemployment rate edged down to 3.8% from 3.9% in February.
• Average hourly wages grew by 0.3% to $34.69 after rising 0.2% in February.

In March, average hourly wages rose by 12 cents, or 0.3%, to $34.69. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings rose 4.1%.

The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose to 34.4 hours in March, up from 34.3 in February. For manufacturing employees, the average workweek increased to 40.1 hours in March, and overtime was unchanged at 2.9 hours. For production and nonsupervisory employees, the average workweek extended to 33.7 hours from 33.5 the prior month.

This article was partially generated by Wordsmith, an automated smart-text platform, using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The article has been reviewed by Morningstar editors.