US March nonfarm payrolls beat forecasts; jobless rate edges down

PANews reported on April 3 that US employers added 178,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in March, topping the market's estimate of 60,000 and marking the strongest gain since December 2024. The result follows a month that had shown negative job growth. The prior month's payrolls figure was revised up to 133,000 from 92,000. The unemployment rate slipped to 4.3% in March, versus expectations for no change at 4.4% and a previous reading of 4.40%.