Summary
In March, the U.S. economy added more jobs than economists predicted, with 178,000 new jobs created. Despite this positive economic news, President Donald Trump's approval ratings have continued to drop according to recent polls.
Key Facts
- The U.S. economy added 178,000 jobs in March, which was much higher than the expected 60,000.
- The unemployment rate decreased to 4.3%.
- Job growth over the last three months remained modest overall.
- A significant portion of job growth in March came from health care, which added 76,000 jobs.
- Construction and transportation sectors also saw job increases.
- Federal government jobs and financial services jobs both experienced reductions.
- Labor force participation, or the percentage of people working or looking for work, decreased to 61.9%.
- A broader unemployment measure rose to 8%, including discouraged workers.
- Wage growth slowed, with hourly earnings up 0.2% in March and 3.5% from the previous year, which was below expectations.
