- Employers added 916,000 jobs in March, a number far greater than the economist-predicted total of 675,000 jobs, making March the strongest month for job creation since Summer 2020. [CNBC / Jeff Cox]
- The final numbers are expected to accelerate the US economy’s recovery from its Covid-19 induced recession, a comeback expected to be strengthened amid increasing vaccination rates and spending from the third round stimulus passed in early March. [Axios / Courtenay Brown and Felix Salmon]
- Nearly 500,000 of the jobs created in March went to women, many of whom were forced to leave the workforce after schools and child care centers shut down last year. The pandemic had disproportionately affected women in employment, but they now constitute under half of all displaced workers since last year. [Washington Post / Eli Rosenberg]
- The overall US unemployment rate is now at 6 percent, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, down from a high of 14.8 percent in April 2020, the first full month of the Covid-19 pandemic in America. [Al Jazeera / Kaelyn Forde]
- But full economic recovery is not yet in sight. Workers of color continue to see particularly elevated unemployment rates, and overall employment is lagging 8.4 million jobs below peak levels from February 2020 and over 4 million people have been unemployed since at least September. [US Bureau of Labor Statistics]
- Still, today’s jobs report is expected to serve as a touchstone for a strong second quarter, characterized by increased consumer spending, in part thanks to federal stimulus programs. On Thursday, the S&P 500 climbed past 4,000 points for the first time in history. The Dow Jones and Nasdaq enjoyed similar jumps. [CNBC / Patti Domm]
- Covid-19 is the wild card in this, however. If nationwide infection rates continue to rise, some states and businesses may be forced to roll back reopenings, undoing the economic gains made this month in a vein similar to last winter. [New York Times / Ben Casselman]
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