| The March jobs report was another strong data point for job creation and labor force participation.
Why it matters: Despite the worries about a slowing economy leading to rising unemployment, the labor market keeps chugging at an impressive rate that defies conventional wisdom.
By the numbers:
- Job gains were 236,000. This exceeded market expectations of 190,000.
- Leisure and Hospitality added 72,000; Education and Health 65,000; Government 47,000; Professional and Business Services 39,000; Other Services 11,000; Transportation and Warehousing 10,000; and Information 6,000.
- Construction lost 9,000 and Wholesale and Retail Trade 8,000.
Be smart: We added more workers to the labor force too.
- The labor force rose by 480,000. We are now almost 2.3 million workers above the pre-pandemic participation level.
- And: Wage gains were also strong, rising 0.27% from February and 4.2% annually from March 2022.
But: If we had the same participation rate now as in February 2020, there would be 1.8 million more workers in the labor force. |
