“The March employment report accomplished three important things: (1) the yr/yr moderation in wage growth will keep the Fed sidelined (2) it exposed February's weak payrolls data to be an aberration and (3) it helped quiet recession concerns.” (Briefing.Com, April 5, 2019)

After a lackluster gain of only 33,000 jobs in February, the US job market bounced back with 196,000 jobs in March. The February numbers were bleak, partly because they reflected weather issues and the government shutdown. Nonetheless, the March payroll jobs increase clearly underscored that the February jobs stall was an aberration.

The unemployment rate in March remained at 3.8%, the same as in February.

The US unemployment rate, a broader measure of unemployment which accounts for unemployed and underemployed workers, was unchanged at 7.3%.

There was a slight retreat in y/y wage gains to 3.2% in March from 3.4% in February. 

Nonetheless, the jobs expansion in the first quarter was slower than the expansion last year. In the first three months of the year, the economy added 180,000 jobs on average, while the monthly average last year was 223,000.

The recent slowdown in job creation is consistent with the view that the US economy is close to full employment, and unfilled job vacancies are more of a problem than unemployment.

In fact, the important takeaway from all of this is that there are no inflationary pressures insight and thus far the goldilocks job market is intact.