According to the latest employment figures released by the U.S. Department of Labor, the economy added 103,000 jobs last month, in a continuing run of jobs growth in the country. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which maintains data on national hiring and unemployment trends, reported that employers in the United States added a net of 103,000 jobs in March, while the unemployment rate held at 4.1% for the sixth consecutive month.
The March jobs report marks the 90th month in a row in which the U.S. economy has seen payrolls grow. This continues the longest run of consecutive jobs growth on record. Taking into account newly released figures from the BLS, the U.S. economy has added a little over 200,000 jobs on average over the first three months of 2018.
In spite of these positive signs, the U.S. economy underperformed last month relative to experts' predictions. The number of jobs added in March fell more than 80,000 positions short of economists' projections for the period. According to Bloomberg's estimates, economists had expected the addition of 185,000 jobs in March, after a particularly strong showing for hiring figures in February. The BLS reported that the economy added 313,000 jobs that month, the highest increase since July 2016. This month's report revised that figure upward, to 326,000, though it also updated January's jobs number, lowering it by more than 60,000, from 239,000 jobs to 176,000. In combination, the new figures reflect a decrease of 50,000 jobs from previous estimates.
In spite of a steady unemployment rate and a net increase in jobs over the period, wages grew only slightly last month, increasing by 8 cents an hour. Though this figure is an improvement of 2.7% over last year, earnings have risen slowly in a long-term view, given the low unemployment rate. Experts have offered a range of explanations, including a lagging minimum wage and decreased unionization, for the relatively slow rate of wage growth since the U.S. economy began its recovery from the 2008 financial crisis.
Earlier this year, the January jobs report and its relatively strong wage figures sparked fears that the economy may overheat, as investors and policymakers worried about potential inflation. With an eye toward steering the economy away from the risk of overheating, the Federal Reserve raised the federal interest rate in March, with two more increases planned for the year. March's employment report should assuage concerns about such overheating.
The manufacturing sector continued to add jobs in March, in a gain of 22,000 over the month. However, the aggressive steel and aluminum tariffs imposed by the Trump administration last month may have negative ramifications for U.S. manufacturing going forward. The steel and aluminum tariffs have led to intensifying trade tensions between the U.S. and its largest trading partner, China, and worsening hostilities may threaten the health of this sector over the coming months.
