US job gains for March 3 times stronger than economists forecast
發佈日期: 2026-04-04 20:44
TVB News
US employers added a surprisingly strong 178,000 new jobs last month, rebounding from a dismal February.
Some economists say the impact of the Middle East war was probably not fully reflected in the latest jobs numbers.
The US Labor Department reported hiring marked a turnaround from the loss of 133,000 jobs in February.
The job gains were about three times what economists had forecast.
The US unemployment rate was down from 4.4 percent in February. Factories added 15,000 jobs last month.
Paul Wiseman from The Associated Press said: "The numbers last month got a lift from the end of a strike that had idled 30,000 health care workers in February. And warmer weather also helped the construction industry add 26,000 jobs. The drop in unemployment was caused partly because almost 400,000 people dropped out of the labor market. That means fewer people were competing for work. The labour market has been shrinking partly because people are getting older and retiring and partly because of President Trump's immigration crackdown."
Average hourly wages in the US were up 0.2 percent from February.
The US job market has been in a slump for some time.
Last year, employers added an average of just 9,700 jobs a month, the weakest hiring outside a recession since 2002.
Most economists say the impact of the Middle East war and higher energy prices was probably not fully reflected in the March jobs numbers.
