Economy added solid 196,000 jobs in March, unemployment stays at 3.8%

Hiring rebounded strongly in March as employers added 196,000 jobs, easing fears that payroll growth is slowing sharply amid a cooling economy.

The unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.8%, the Labor Department said Friday.

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had estimated 175,000 jobs were added last month.

Job gains for January and February were revised up by a modest 14,000.

After severe, weather-related swings in employment early this year, economists largely anticipated a return to normalcy in March. If anything, Goldman Sachs reckoned below-average snowfall would bolster job gains by about 20,000.

Payroll growth was feeble in February, with just 33,000 additions, but that was largely blamed on weather as construction and leisure and hospitality had especially poor performances. Unusually mild temperatures pulled forward hiring to January, inflating that month’s employment gains. An offsetting drop the following month was compounded by snowstorms.