The unemployment rate also dips to 4.3 percent to cap off a volatile first quarter.
The U.S. economy closed out a quarter marked by whiplash in the labor market, as hiring surged one month and sagged the next.
Employers added 178,000 new jobs in March, according to new Bureau of Labor Statistics data released on April 3.
Prior to the nonfarm payrolls report, economists had forecast a more modest reading of 60,000.
The unemployment rate also dipped to 4.3 percent last month, from the 4.4 percent registered in February.
Markets had projected the jobless rate holding steady at 4.4 percent.
The White House welcomed the report, saying it shows the economy remains on a solid footing.
“The March jobs report blew out expectations with strong construction job growth and a surge in manufacturing job creation as trillions of dollars in investments begin to materialize,” White House spokesman Kush Desai wrote in an April 3 post on X. “America remains on a solid economic trajectory thanks to President Trump’s proven agenda of tax cuts, deregulation, tariffs, and energy dominance.”
He added that “short-term disruptions of Operation Epic Fury are behind us” and that the U.S. economy’s resurgence is set to accelerate.
It was a turbulent first quarter as employment data whipsawed between strike-driven losses, persistent tariff concerns, and weather-related rebounds. These conditions have offered a distorted view of the U.S. labor market, further complicating the Federal Reserve’s policymaking efforts.
As for the war in Iran, market-watchers anticipate the conflict to show up in the April data.
“Although most of this data is from the period prior to the war, it establishes a baseline of a resilient economy, with better-than-expected job growth and a lower unemployment rate,” Chris Zaccarelli, CIO for Northlight Asset Management, told The Epoch Times in an emailed note.
January’s total nonfarm payroll employment reading was adjusted up by 34,000 to 160,000. The February figures were revised down by 41,000 to a loss of 133,000.
This brought the three-month total to 205,000, higher than the 61,000 added in the first quarter of 2025.
Health care accounted for a sizable share of March’s payroll gains, adding 76,000 jobs.
“Employment in ambulatory health care services rose by 54,000, reflecting an increase of 35,000 in offices of physicians as workers returned from a strike,” the bureau said.
About 31,000 Kaiser Permanente nurses and health care professionals in California and Hawaii went on strike from January 26 to February 23. The labor disruption was centered around wages and chronic understaffing.
Kaiser ultimately agreed to a 21.5 percent wage increase, as well as stronger staffing protections.
Last month’s job growth was also fueled by construction (26,000), transportation and warehousing (21,000), manufacturing (15,000), and social assistance (14,000).
Conversely, financial activities and federal payrolls fell by 18,000 and 15,000.
Wage growth cooled sharply, with average hourly earnings rising at a lower-than-expected pace of 0.2 percent—down from the 0.4 percent increase in February.
On a 12-month basis, growth in average hourly earnings eased to 3.5 percent, below economists’ projections.
The labor force participation slipped below 62 percent for the first time since November 2021. Average weekly hours slid to 34.2, from 34.3.
The number of employed full-time workers rebounded substantially, surging by 335,000. Employed part-time workers dropped by 188,000.
The number of people working two or more jobs was little changed at 8.357 million.
Markets were closed for the Good Friday long weekend.
By Andrew Moran
