March Job Growth Beats Expectations, But Tariffs Loom Large

Total nonfarm payroll employment in the U.S. rose by an unexpectedly strong 228,000 in March, while the unemployment rate changed little at 4.2 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports. The latest job increase came on the heels of an unexpectedly sluggish 117,000 (revised) figure for February.

The biggest March job gains occurred in health care, social assistance, and transportation/ warehousing. Employment also increased in retail trade, partially reflecting the return of workers from a strike. Federal government employment declined.

Specifically in the retail trade sector, 24,000 jobs were added in March, as workers returning from a strike contributed to a job gain in food and beverage retailers (+21,000). (Editor’s note: the government did not disclose specifically what work stoppage/settlement it was refering to.) While general merchandise retailers lost 5000 jobs, overall, employment in the sector changed little over the year.

In its coverage of the news, CNBC noted that the positive jobs numbers were overshadowed by the Trump administration’s announcement earlier this week start implementing widespread tariffs on imported goods.

“Today’s better-than-expected jobs report will help ease fears of an immediate softening in the U.S. labor market,” said Lindsay Rosner, Head of Multi-Sector Fixed Income Investing at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, told the news service. “However, this number has become a side dish with the market just focusing on the entrée: tariffs.”

In a similar vein, Glen Smith, Chief Investment Officer at GDS Wealth, told CNBC that while latest jobs report “showed that the economy is still adding jobs even with the tariff uncertainty and federal job cuts, the data is backward looking and doesn’t say anything about how employers might fare over the coming months.”