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The U.S. economy added 916,000 jobs in March with the unemployment rate reported at 6%, according to the Labor Department on Friday.
Job growth boomed last month at the fastest pace since August 2020, showing signs of stronger economic progress than expected in the hospitality and construction industries with more than 110K jobs added.
The labor force continued to grow after losing more than 6 million Americans due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Another 347,000 workers came back, bringing the labor force participation rate to 61.5%, compared to 63.3% in February 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Even with the continued gains, the private job sector remains 3.1 million below its pre-Coronavirus total in February 2020.
The report points to stronger growth as the U.S. tries to shake off the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic while more companies are reconstructing in the aftermath. States and municipalities across the country continue to reopen after a year of operating at reduced capacity, which will add to projected growth over the coming months.
Even with the current jobs numbers the Federal Reserve isn’t expected to push for raising interest rates. Policymakers for the Fed have said repeatedly that even with the recent improvements, the labor market is nowhere near that point yet.
