After a surprising decline in February, the U.S. economy demonstrated resilience by adding a robust 178,000 jobs in March, according to the Labor Department’s latest report released Friday. This figure significantly exceeded economists’ expectations, which had predicted a more modest gain of 60,000 jobs, based on an LSEG poll.
The unemployment rate also saw a slight improvement, falling to 4.3%, a notch below the 4.4% projected by LSEG economists. These figures suggest a rebound in economic activity and a tightening labor market.
However, the report included revisions to the previous two months’ payroll numbers. January’s figures were revised upward by 34,000, from 126,000 to 160,000, while February’s report was revised downward by 41,000, from a loss of 92,000 to a loss of 133,000. Cumulatively, this means that employment in January and February was 7,000 jobs lower than initially reported.
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