March US Nonfarm Payrolls Rebounds More Than Expected, Unemployment Rate Down

08:41 AM EDT, 04/03/2026 (MT Newswires) -- The March employment report showed nonfarm payrolls rebounded by 178,000, well above the 65,000 jobs increase expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg, while February payrolls saw a sharp downward revision to a 133,000-jobs decrease and January payrolls were revised upwards to a 160,000 increase, for a net downward revision of 7,000 jobs.

Private payrolls jumped by 186,000 in March after a 129,000 decrease in February, well above the increase of 75,000 private jobs expected. Health care jobs rose by 89,900 while leisure and hospitality jobs were up 44,000, while transportation and warehousing payrolls rebounded by 21,000 after a 48,500 decline in the previous month.

The unemployment rate fell to 4.3% in March from 4.4% in February, compared with a 4.4% rate expected, while the labor force participation rate fell to 61.9% from 62.0% in February and the size of the labor force contracted on declines in both household employment and unemployment.

Hourly earnings rose by 0.2%, slower than the 0.3% gain expected, and following a 0.4% increase in February. Hourly earnings were up 3.5% year-over-year after a 3.8% year-over-year gain in the previous month.

The average workweek shortened to 34.2 hours from 34.3 hours in February, below the 34.3 hours expected.

The monthly employment report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics consists of two separate surveys and is considered the most important data release for the month. The survey of businesses measures the levels of employment and wages and the length of the average workweek, broken down by industry.

The survey of households measures the number of people working or looking for work, the unemployment rate, those that have left the workforce and reasons for part-time work.

Market reaction can be mixed, particularly when the two surveys disagree. A strong increase in employment or a decline in the unemployment rate is generally a positive for stocks as sign of a strong US economy, but bonds would react negatively to the same news, particularly if wages rise sharply at the same time.

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