U.S. gained 192,000 jobs in March
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U.S. employers added 192,000 jobs last month, with most of the gain coming in service-related industries, such as health care and retail, as well as leisure and hospitality, the federal government said.
The job gains were in line with analysts’ expectations and marked the ninth month in the past year that the number of jobs added exceeded 150,000.
However, the nation’s unemployment rate remained the same as in February, at 6.7 percent. Analysts polled by Yahoo had expected a slight drop, to 6.6 percent.
Perhaps more importantly, the number of Americans employed in March is the highest for that month since 2008, just after the Great Recession hit. Last month, employment reached 137.9 million, about 300,000 short of the level in March 2008. Employment fell over the next two years before gradually rebounding starting in 2011.
The stock market reacted favorably to the news at the opening bell. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 57 points, or 0.35 percent. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 indexes were also up.
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