Financial News: U.S. Employment Rebounds Much More Than Expected In

U.S. Employment Rebounds Much More Than Expected In March

04/03/2026 - 09:49:00 (RTTNews)

(RTTNews) - The Labor Department released a report on Friday showing employment in the U.S. surged by much more than expected in the month of March.

The report said non-farm payroll employment shot up by 178,000 jobs in March after plunging by a revised 133,000 jobs in February.

Economists had expected employment to climb by 51,000 jobs compared to the loss of 92,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

The stronger than expected job growth partly reflected a notable increase in employment in the health care and social assistance sector, which added 89,900 jobs.

Employment in the leisure and hospitality, construction and transportation and warehousing sectors also rose, while federal government employment continued to decline.

"A strong rebound in employment suggests the US economy is in a decent position to weather the economic headwinds from the Middle East conflict," said ING Chief International Economist James Knightley.

He added, "Nonetheless, job creation remains concentrated in a handful of sectors, and rising uncertainty and caution are likely to make employers hesitant to accelerate hiring plans."

The Labor Department also said the unemployment rate edged down to 4.3 percent in March from 4.4 percent in February. The unemployment rate was expected to remain unchanged.

The unexpected dip by the unemployment rate came as the household survey measure of employment fell by 64,000 persons, while the labor force shrank by 396,000 persons.

The report also said average hourly employee earnings increased by $0.09 or 0.2 percent to $37.38 in March.

The annual rate of growth by average hourly employee earnings slowed to 3.5 percent in March from 3.8 percent in February.

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