U.S. employers added a surprising 228,000 jobs last month as the American labor market continues to show resilience, the Associated Press reports. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2%.
The hiring numbers were up from 117,000 in February and were nearly double the 130,000 that economists had expected.
The job market has cooled from the red-hot hiring days of 2021-2023. Employers added 151,000 jobs in February and 125,000 in January — not bad, but down from monthly averages of 168,000 last year, 216,000 in 2023, 380,000 in 2022 and a record 603,000 in 2021 as the economy surged back from COVID-19 lockdowns.
The economy has been remarkably durable in the face of high interest rates.
