The Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported that the U.S. economy added 228,000 jobs in March. This beat expectations for the March economy, with earlier projections only anticipating the addition of 135,000 jobs.

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The addition of 228,000 jobs in March outperformed the average monthly increase of 158,000 over the previous 12 months. Health care, social assistance, transportation and warehousing, and retail employment witnessed the largest gains. Employment by the federal government fell by 4,000 in March, which was lower than the 11,000 decrease in federal jobs in February.

At the same time, the unemployment rate increased slightly to 4.2 percent. Since May 2024 the unemployment rate has remained in a narrow range between 4.0 and 4.2 percent. 

The number of people in not in the labor force who currently want a job also remained stable at approximately 5.9 million people. The number of part-time workers who would prefer full time employment also remained stable at roughly 4.8 million people.