The US economy gained 431,000 jobs in March, according to Friday’s latest job report.
Summary
The US economy added 431,000 jobs last month, the March jobs report from the Labor Department said Friday.
- The job growth helped reduce the unemployment rate to 3.6 percent, its lowest level since before the pandemic began.
- Employers have added at least 400,000 jobs for 11 straight months amid the highest inflation in 40 years, lingering repercussions of COVID-19 and Russia’s war on Ukraine.
- The Labor Department also revised February’s report higher, showing a 750,000 February job increase instead of the initial report of 678,000.
- Wall Street was poised to open higher Friday after the report’s release, with S&P 500 futures up 0.5 percent.
- The New York Times highlighted the decline in remote work, which declined to 10 percent of the workforce last month, down from 22.7 percent one year ago and greater than one-third of workers during the peak lockdown period in Mary 2020.
- Axios observed wage growth, which stalled in February, picked up the pace in March. Hourly wages increased 0.4 percent in March and 5.6 percent over the past year – which was not enough to outpace inflation.
- The Washington Post observed job creation and new job openings were at near-record levels in the March report, and some segments of the economy reported labor shortages.
- The Wall Street Journal reported that the “constraints on the labor supply that were prevailing in 2021 have really eased,” an important factor in the recovery and returning to pre-pandemic employment levels.
- Fox News spotlighted the sectors that saw the largest job gains: leisure and hospitality (112,0000); professional and business services (102,000); and retail (49,000).
- The Washington Examiner assessed that report indicates a “hot” labor market that defied expectations that omicron would hurt the job market.
Return to Freespoke 
© Dominic Moore, 2022
