US Adds 236,000 Jobs in March; Unemployment at 3.5%

The Labor Department reported Friday that the U.S. economy added 236,000 jobs in March.

The Details: That number was slightly lower than the Dow Jones estimate for 238,000. The economy added over 300,000 jobs in February. The labor force participation rate rose for the fifth straight month to 62.6%, but remains below its pre-pandemic level of 63.3%. Industries that gained the most jobs were leisure and hospitality (72,000 added), government employment (47,000), professional and business services (39,000) and health care (34,000).

For Context: As of Thursday, over 270,000 people had been layed off in the U.S. so far in 2023, a 396% rise from the same period a year ago. Meanwhile, the number of available jobs in the U.S. fell in February to 9.93 million, the lowest number since May 2021.

How the Media Covered It: Associated Press (Lean Left bias) called the job growth "healthy," and said "the economy remains on solid footing despite the nine interest rate hikes the Federal Reserve has imposed over the past year in its drive to tame inflation." Conversely, Fox Business (Lean Right) emphasized that "job growth slowed in March," and said "the once rock-solid labor market began to soften in the face of high interest rates and stubborn inflation."