Strong Jobs Report Defies Expectations

The new jobs report is out, and it reflects hiring that was much stronger than expected. The impact of Friday's data on the markets, however, is being overshadowed by the new trade war that has begun after President Trump's tariffs.

• Employers added 228,000 jobs in March, up from a revised figure of 117,000 the previous month and well above expectations of 140,000, reports CNBC.
• The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2% from 4.1%, which the AP says was expected.
• All in all, the numbers are "a sign that the labor market remained strong despite economic uncertainty and market turbulence," per the Wall Street Journal.

• A jobs report that defies expectations normally is quickly reflected in Dow futures, but Friday is unusual: Futures were down more than 1,000 points before the report came out because of China's new tariffs on the US, and they remained in that territory upon the report's release.
• The impact of the mass firings in the federal government by Elon Musk's Department of Governmental Efficiency were just beginning to show up, per the AP.
• The new figure bucks a recent cooling-down trend since the post-pandemic surge of hiring. The nation averaged monthly increases of 168,000 in 2024, 216,000 in 2023, 380,000 in 2022, and a record 603,000 in 2021.

(More unemployment rate stories.)