Jobs Report: 98,000 Added To Employment Rolls In March; Unemployment Falls To 4.5 Percent

In a month of overall disappointing news, the American workforce added a disappointing 98,000 jobs while the unemployment rate fell to 4.5 percent, according to Friday's report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Observers had expected at least double the jobs growth in March, which would have held steady with the trends of recent months. The drop in the unemployment rate, however, tells a somewhat better story.

"The pace of March hiring appears to have slowed with only 98,000 jobs added according to the establishment survey, after a pair of monthly readings that were north of 200,000," said Mark Hambrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate.com. "We have to acknowledge however, that there’s a bit of evidence that the month wasn’t as disappointing as that headline number would indicate because the unemployment rate slipped to 4.5%. The latter number derived from the household survey even as labor force participation (measuring those who are working or looking for work) held steady at 63%."

National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions Chief Economist Curt Long agreed. "Weak readings in the construction and retail sectors likely owed something to Winter Storm Stella," he said. "Additionally, there was a larger than normal discrepancy between the modest gains in the payroll survey and those of the household survey and ADP estimate, which were far stronger."

He continued: "It would not be a surprise to see a strong bounce back in April, as well as upward revisions to the March figure."

But Hambrick argued that the world holds many other wild cards that might bode poorly for the American economy.

"The U.S. airstrikes on Syria serve as a dramatic reminder that many of the simmering crises around the world can flare-up with a virtual moment’s notice, with potentially dramatic impacts on financial markets and the economy," he said. "For the moment, investors are betting that this story is relatively short-lived. If U.S. involvement is more prolonged or significant, that will be something else. North Korea, and U.S.-China relations are also something to watch."

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