US labor market showed strong resilience in March, with non-farm payrolls rising 178k, far above expectations of 48k. The solid gain more than offset the downward revision in February, which was revised from -92k to -133k, while January’s figure was revised higher from 126k to 160k, reinforcing a volatile hiring trend.
The unemployment rate fell from 4.4% to 4.3%, beating expectations, although the participation rate edged lower from 62.0% to 61.9%, suggesting part of the decline was driven by a smaller labor force.
However, wage dynamics were softer than expected. Average hourly earnings rose 0.2% mom, below the 0.3% forecast, with annual growth at 3.5% yoy.
