Employment rose by 303,000 nonfarm payroll jobs last month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced Friday. That beat the average monthly gain of 231,000 over the past 12 months, and the result was generally stronger than economists had expected.
Employment showed little or no change in the manufacturing sector in March, the BLS data shows.
The healthcare, government, leisure and hospitality and construction sectors led the rise in jobs. Healthcare added 72,000 jobs last month, followed by government at 71,000, leisure and hospitality at 49,000, and construction at 39,000.
The overall unemployment rate dipped slightly to 3.8% in March from 3.9% the month before, and has hovered in the 3.7%-3.9% range since August 2023.
Wages grew by just 0.3 percent last month, compared to February, and were up 4.1% over March 2023.
Investors had been waiting to see whether the data would show an economy that was ready for a cut in federal benchmark interest rates amid stubbornly high inflation. For some observers, the relatively slow wage growth amid high gains in jobs could show that the labor market can remain strong without further fueling inflation.
The BLS will release its April jobs report on May 3.
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