Jobs Surge As Employers Add 916,000 Workers
The U.S. added a solid 916,000 jobs last month — far surpassing an expected increase of 675,000 jobs — and the unemployment rate fell to 6 percent, the Labor Department reported Friday.
The new numbers come after the economy added 379,000 jobs in February, a figure that also far outpaced expectations.
The March jobs report shows the growth of the U.S. economy is speeding up as the pace of COVID-19 vaccinations accelerates and local restrictions have eased.
The perfomance of the economy is now outpacing the predictions of economists who expected the U.S. to gain jsut 675,000 jobs last month, and who have been predicting relatively modest gains in growth for the second quarter, which started this week, to be followed by a robust second have of the year.
The surge expected this summer and fall is expected to be largely due to the $1.9 trillion relief plan signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11.
Despite Friday’s good news, the U.S. is still more than 8 million jobs short of pre-pandemic levels and millions more have left the workforce without a clear path to return.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement that “If the American Rescue Plan could lead to these numbers, imagine what the even bigger, bolder American Jobs Plan will do for our recovery.
“Now is not the time to take our foot off the gas. I’ll work with President Biden to pass a robust American Jobs Plan that will drive our country forward for decades to come,” he said.
