US President Donald Trump applauded the US economy’s unexpectedly robust job increases in March, but economists were cautious. The data was released on Friday.
According to the Labor Department, the largest economy in the world added 178,000 jobs in March after losing 133,000 in February, and the unemployment rate fell by 0.1 percentage points to 4.3%.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal predicted a 59,000 employment rise, but Friday’s report greatly exceeded their predictions.
The data was stronger than forecast, “but vastly overstates the sustainable pace of job growth,” said Oxford Economics lead US economist Nancy Vanden Houten.
“The end of a strike, seasonal quirks and a rebound after harsh winter weather likely boosted job growth in some sectors,” she said.
Trump touted the numbers as a success.
“My Economic Policies have created an enormously powerful engine of Economic Growth, and nothing can slow it down,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform, hailing the number of private sector jobs gained.
Earlier, White House spokesperson Kush Desai said that once the “short-term disruptions” of the US-Israel war on Iran are over, “America’s economic resurgence is set to only accelerate.”
Markets were closed Friday in the United States for Good Friday.
