Hiring slows as US adds 236,000 jobs in March, half of January’s total

The U.S. economy added 236,000 jobs in March while the unemployment rate ticked back down to 3.5%, according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics report out Friday, April 7. The jobs data is in line with what economists expected and represents a slight cooldown in the resilient labor market.

The unemployment rate is near the 53-year low of 3.4%, which the economy hit in January 2023. It was 3.6% in February.

March’s job gains are exactly half the 472,000 jobs added the month of January and nearly 100,000 jobs below the average monthly gain over the prior six months of 334,000.

While big companies from the technology sector to finance appear to be laying off left and right – the tech sector accounts for 38% of all recent layoffs according to a report released this week – other sectors are still growing.

Leisure and hospitality added 72,000 jobs in March, driven largely by the restaurant industry’s 50,000 gain. The monthly gain in the industry is lower than 95,000 average monthly gain over the prior six months, indicating a slowdown.

Meanwhile, health care added 34,000 jobs while government employment increased by 47,000 positions.

The Friday report follows this week’s job openings data, which showed that available jobs in the U.S. dipped below 10 million for the first time in more than a year and a half. While the labor market is still historically strong, these data points do point to a little more slack as the Federal Reserve’s attempts to slow the economy amid high inflation. The Fed raised its benchmark interest rate to 4.75%-5% at its latest meeting and will meet again on May 3. Meanwhile, the latest inflation data will be released April 12.

Friday was also a bit of an anomaly in that the markets did not react to the latest report. Good Friday is a market holiday and U.S. stock exchanges are closed, meaning traders will not get a chance to respond to the data until Monday.