US job growth slows in March as economy adds 236,000 new positions

U.S. hiring slowed in March as the once rock-solid labor market began to soften in the face of high interest rates and stubborn inflation. 

Employers added 236,000 jobs in March, the Labor Department said in its monthly payroll report released Friday, mostly in line with the 239,000 jobs forecast by Refinitiv economists. The unemployment rate, meanwhile, ticked lower to 3.5% as the labor force increased to the highest level since before the pandemic began. 

It marked the lowest monthly jobs gain since December 2020.

While monthly jobs data is always important, the Federal Reserve is closely watching this particular report for signs the labor market is finally cooling as policymakers try to cool the inflation with a series of interest-rate hikes.

The labor market has remained historically tight over the past year, but there are growing signs of a slowdown. A separate report released Wednesday showed there were about 9.9 million job openings in February, the first time since May 2021 that the number of available jobs dipped below 10 million.