The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the March non-farm payrolls, which came in at 431,000; economists were looking for 492,000 new jobs. Last month, the US non-farm payrolls rose by 678,000 compared to the 407,000 expected.
At the same time, the unemployment rate was 3.6%.
Leisure and hospitality led to job creation with a gain of 112,000. Professional and business services accounted for 102,000 of the totals, while retail was up 49,000 and manufacturing added 38,000. Financial activities gained the least – 16,000 new jobs.
Even though hiring on the top line has been strong, there's still a gap of about 5 million job openings as opposed to the number of available workers.
Now, markets expect rate increases at each of the six remaining Fed meetings this year. It is likely to start with a half-percentage-point move in May and continue to total 2.5 percentage points before the end of the year.
The markets barely reacted to the news, with the Dollar Index up 0.2%, trading at 98.537.
Sources: cnbc.com, forexfactory.com
