2019.04.0508:39:00UTC+00U.S. Employment Jumps More Than Expected In March

After nearly grinding to a halt in the previous month, job growth showed a substantial reacceleration in the month of March, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Friday.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment jumped by 196,000 jobs in March after edging up by a revised 33,000 jobs in February.

Economists had expected employment to increase by about 180,000 jobs compared to the uptick of 20,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

Despite the stronger than expected job growth, the unemployment rate held at 3.8 percent in March, unchanged from February and in line with economist estimates.