Blog
Job Growth Bounces Back in March
April 5, 2019
The U.S. economy added 196,000 jobs last month, and a welcome sign after February’s dismal numbers. Unemployment held steady at 3.8 percent. Economists had predicted growth of 175,000. February’s anemic rate of 20,000 new jobs was revised up, to a still paltry 33,000. With March’s gain, the average monthly increase for the last three months comes to 180,000, lagging behind the 233,000 monthly average gain for 2018.
Wage growth slowed from its recently brisk pace. Wages were just 0.14 percent from last month, and up 3.2 percent year over year, down from last month’s 3.4 percent yearly increase.