The US labor market rebounded in a big way from February’s significant losses.
According to an announcement Friday morning from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the country added 178,000 jobs in March after losing 133,000 positions the previous month. Economist forecasts had been that 60,000 jobs should have been added.
Unemployment fell to 4.3% against 4.4% in February and expectations for 4.4%.
At least part of the beat was due to a significant downward revision of the February data from an initially reported drop of 92,000.
Trading quietly near the $67,000 level in the hours ahead of the data, bitcoin remained there in the minutes right after the report.
Futures on US stock indices remained modestly lower, the Nasdaq 100 fell 0.2 per cent. The 10-year US Treasury yield rose four basis points to 4.36%.
Expectations for the future course of interest rates have recently been far more influenced by events in the Middle East and the price of crude oil than by the outlook for domestic economic growth.
As recently as last week, rising oil prices had markets predicting imminent rate hikes from the US Federal Reserve. Earlier this week, however, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said that the central bank recognized that oil price shocks – at the same time as overall inflation numbers look worse – can slow down economic activity. He indicated that the Fed would be in no rush to raise interest rates in response to short-term movements in crude oil prices.
This morning’s strong rate suggests increasing momentum in the economy, perhaps putting 2026 rate hikes back on the table.
