US Job Growth in Year Through March was Far Lower than Estimated

• U.S. employers added far fewer jobs than initially reported in the year through March, the Labor Department said on Wednesday. This revision underscores the growing concerns the Federal Reserve has about the health of the labour market as it gears up to start cutting interest rates in September.
• The department's estimate for total payroll employment from April 2023 to March 2024 was lowered by 818,000. This represents a 0.5% downward change and means that monthly job gains during the period averaged roughly 174,000, compared to the previously reported figure of 242,000.
• If the tally holds through the final revision in February, it would be the largest downward revision since the 902,000 reductions to employment in March 2009. It also chimes with the view of some economists that data-gathering issues mean the strong job gains previously reported have been systematically overestimated.
• Private employment growth was revised down by 819,000, or 0.6% below previous estimates by the department. The professional and business services category saw the biggest reduction in jobs, shedding 358,000, or 1.6%, from the prior estimate, followed by leisure and hospitality at 150,000 jobs, down 0.9%. The hard-pressed manufacturing sector saw a reduction of 115,000 jobs, also down 0.9%. Government employment was unchanged.
• The few sectors that saw upward revisions included private education and health services, up 87,000, or 0.3%; transportation and warehousing, up 56,400, or 0.9%; and utilities, up 1,700, or 0.3%. The revisions suggest government and private employers had about 157.3Mn workers on their books in March on a seasonally adjusted basis, down from about 158.1Mn as previously reported.

(Source: Reuters)