U.S. Labor Market Tightens as Jobless Rate Falls to New Low Despite Payrolls Miss
2022.04.01 15:56
By Geoffrey Smith
Investing.com — The U.S. labor market tightened again in March with the jobless rate falling to a new post-pandemic low, even though the economy created fewer jobs than expected.
Nonfarm payrolls rose by 431,000 in the month through mid-March, well below consensus forecasts for a rise of 490,000. However, the shortfall was completely offset by an upward revision of 62,000 to February’s data, bringing the previous month’s gain to 750,000.
As a result, the unemployment rate fell to 3.6% from 3.8% in February, a little below forecasts for 3.7%.
Average hourly earnings also grew by more than expected, reflecting a further shift of the balance of power in the labor market toward workers. The U.S. economy had over 11 million vacant jobs in March, according to a survey released earlier in the week by the Labor Department. Earnings grew 5.6% on the year through March, their fastest rate since the early days of the pandemic.
