Employment growth in the United States weakened in March compared to a month earlier, the US Department of Labor reports. This could have implications for the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy. The US central bank has been raising interest rates for a long time to counteract high inflation, but those rate hikes do create headwinds for the economy.
According to the government, 236,000 new jobs were added last month in the world’s largest economy. That was a revised 326,000 a month earlier. The figure from the monthly jobs report was also a bit weaker than economists had thought. U.S. unemployment fell to 3.5 percent, from 3.6 percent in February.
Earlier this week, several data came out that indicated a weakening of the US labor market, including a disappointing figure on job growth in the business of payroll processor ADP. That fueled fears among investors that the U.S. economy could enter a recession.
