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- 196,000 jobs were added in March, the BLS said Friday.
- That comes after an unexpectedly weak gain of 33,000 nonfarm payrolls a month earlier.
- Wages rose 3.2% from a year earlier.
Offering the latest snapshot of the American economy, the official employment report out Friday showed hiring rebounded last month and that wage growth eased.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics said the economy added 196,000 nonfarm payrolls in March, bouncing back from gains that were far smaller than expected a month earlier. The unemployment rate held steady at 3.8%, near a five-decade low.
Average hourly earnings rose 3.2% from a year ago, accelerating at a slightly slower pace than a month earlier.
In February, the US created the fewest jobs since 2017. The nonfarm payroll increase of 33,000 was far below economist expectations and raised concerns that the labor market could be cooling.
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 180,000 on average over the past three months.
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Source: Business Insider – gheeb@businessinsider.com (Gina Heeb)