U.S. employment grows below expectations in March, jobless rate remains at 4.1 pct

U.S. labor market report for the month of March showed weaker than anticipated employment growth; however, wages accelerated at a modest pace. Payrolls in March increased 103k, as compared with consensus expectations of 185k. Meanwhile, revisions cut an aggregate 50k from the earlier two months. The jobless rate continued to be at a 17-year low of 4.1 percent, as against expectations that it might decline to 4 percent. Annual wage growth accelerated to 2.7 percent from February’s 2.6 percent.

In all, this is a strong report, which shows that the labor market continues to be buoyant. The employment shortfall follows solid readings for January and February, which suggests that the average monthly rise in the first quarter was around 200k, above the 182k average for 2017. Earnings growth continues to be relatively modest, but the March rise gives some reassurance that it is heading in the right direction. The data are not expected to lead to any change in the U.S. central bank’s policy intentions.

“We expect two further interest rate increases of 0.25% this year, with the next likely to be announced after the Fed’s June policy meeting”, said Lloyds Bank in a research report.

At 14:00 GMT the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of US Dollar was neutral at -25.7964. For more details on FxWirePro's Currency Strength Index, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex

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