4/7/2023: March Jobs Report Remains Strong

236K jobs added

The March jobs report is out. 236K jobs were added in March vs. 230K expected. The unemployment rate was lower at 3.5 percent in March, down from 3.6% in February after setting the record low of 3.4% in January. The labor force participation rate was 62.6% in March, up from 62.5% in February and 62.4% in January. Average hourly earnings rose 0.3% MoM and 4.2% YoY, still way above the 2% inflation rate the Fed targets.

It appears that the labor market was still pretty tight. The effect of the regional banking crisis will probably take a bit more time to manifest itself so let’s wait for a couple of months to see if the unemployment rate will go up and the inflation will go down. If not, chances are more rate hikes are coming and we are gonna see the other big shoe to drop that will send the financial world into a tailspin.