March saw better than expected job gains of 216k vs expectations of 190k and the private sector added 230k jobs, 24k above estimates. There was a net upward revision of 7k to the prior two months but positively by 44k in the private sector. The unemployment rate ticked down .1% to 8.8% as the Household survey said 291k jobs were added vs a 160k increase in the size of the labor force. The all in rate fell to 15.7% from 15.9%. The disappointment within the data was a zero increase in average hourly earnings for the 4th month in the past 5 just as the cost of living continues to hit record highs. Manufacturing added 17k jobs, 13k below estimates but positive for a 5th straight month and the service sector added 199k jobs. While the federal government continues to hire, state and local continue to shed. Bottom line, our economy encouragingly continues to add private sector jobs but with wage growth not keeping pace with inflation.
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