The United States added 228,000 jobs in March, around 90,000 more than expected, as there has been some market volatility after global markets are adjusting to President Donald Trump's tariffs being imposed on different countries.
According to JPMorgan, the added number of jobs beat expectations by around 140,000, even though unemployment increased slightly from 4.1 percent in February to 4.2 percent in March. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said in a press release about the labor numbers that the jobs were mostly gained in "health care, in social assistance, and in transportation and warehousing."
The White House touted the jobs numbers in a press release last week, and said, "In March, the U.S. added 228,000 jobs — nearly 100,000 more jobs than economists predicted and the fourth-highest month for private payroll growth in the past two years. In fact, last month’s jobs increase is roughly twice the pace of the previous two months."
The labor force participation rate, where Americans are engaged in the economy and are either looking for work or are working, increased from 62.4 percent to 62.5 percent, meaning that more people are looking for work or are working in the United States. However, the labor force participation rate of those aged 25 to 54 fell to the lowest levels it has seen in over a year.
Wage growth saw an uptick of 0.3 percent month over month, translating to a 3.8 percent year over year wage increase on average for Americans. The wage increase was in line with averages over the last 12 months.
The news of the job numbers come as there has been increased volatility in the markets with the Trump administration implementing tariffs on different countries in an effort to create better trade agreements for the United States. Although there has been some volatility from the tariffs as well as Trump's threats of imposing tariffs, the jobs number have remained steady.
