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- Economists forecast the US economy added 175,000 jobs in March and that average hourly earnings ticked higher.
- That would be a rebound from an unexpectedly weak labor market report last month.
- The unemployment rate was expected to hold steady at 3.8%.
Offering the latest snapshot of the US economy, official employment numbers out Friday are expected to show hiring rebounded last month and that wage growth continued to pick up.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics report is expected to show the economy added 175,000 nonfarm payrolls in March, bouncing back from a smaller than expected gain a month earlier, and that the unemployment rate held steady at 3.8%.
In February, the US created the fewest jobs since 2017. The nonfarm payroll increase of 20,000 was far below economist expectations and raised concerns that the labor market could be cooling around after a long trend of historic gains.
Growth is widely expected to slow over the next two years in the US and other major economies. But so far, nonfarm jobs have increased by a solid 186,000 on average over the past three months.
The ADP National Employment Report showed on Wednesday that private employers added 129,000 payrolls in March, far below economist forecasts for an increase of 175,000 and the slowest pace in a year and a half.
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Source: Business Insider – gheeb@businessinsider.com (Gina Heeb)