U.S. employers added 303,000 jobs in March, far surpassing of economists’ predictions and signaling the labor market remains resilient.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected businesses had added 200,000 jobs last month. The unemployment rate held steady at 3.8%, the U.S. Department of Labor said on Friday.
The latest data follows scorching hot hiring in January and February, while inflation has remained higher than the Federal Reserve’s goal of a 2% annual rate. On Thursday, a Fed official warned that interest rate cuts may not materialize in 2024, contrary to expectations of many economists, given the strong labor market and stubbornly high inflation.
The “payroll report, particularly the hourly wage component, coupled with next week’s CPI and PPI reports, will move the needle on rate cut probabilities — in either direction,” said Quincy Krosby, Chief Global Strategist for LPL Financial, in an email.
Wall Street will be closely watching the next consumer price index report, or CPI, which is scheduled to be released on April 10. Economists expect prices rose 3.5% on an annual basis in March, which would represent an uptick from the previous month’s 3.2% increase, according to FactSet.
The Federal Reserve has raised interest rates 11 times in the last two years as it battled the hottest inflation in 40 years. While price increases are moderating, inflation has remained above 3% in 2024, higher than the Fed’s goal of 2%.
—This is a developing story and will be updated.
