Strong job growth in March fuels optimism on recovery
The U.S. job market roared back to life in March — and with vaccinations accelerating, businesses reopening and federal aid flowing, the rebound should only get stronger from here.
U.S. employers added 916,000 jobs last month, twice as many as in February and the most since August, the Labor Department said Friday. The unemployment rate fell to 6%, its lowest level since the coronavirus pandemic began, and nearly 350,000 people rejoined the labor force.
The data was collected early in the month, before most states broadened vaccine access and before most Americans began receiving $1,400 checks as part of the latest federal relief package. It was also before the recent rise in virus cases, which economists warned could slow the recovery if it worsened. But on balance, forecasters are optimistic that hiring will remain strong in coming months. “March’s jobs report is the most optimistic report since the pandemic began,” said Daniel Zhao, senior economist for the career site Glassdoor. “It’s not the largest gain in payrolls since the pandemic began, but it’s the first where it seems like the finish line is in sight.”
President Joe Biden, speaking at the White House on Friday, hailed the report as evidence that both his economic and public health initiatives are bearing fruit.
“My message to the American people is this,” he said. “Help is here, opportunity is coming, and at long last there is hope for so many families.”
Biden said the report was also a reminder of the deep hole created by the pandemic. The United States still has 8.4 million fewer jobs than in February 2020. Even if employers kept hiring at the pace they did in March, it would take months to fill the gap.
And if the increase in coronavirus cases turns into a full-blown new wave of infections, it could force some states to reimpose restrictions, impeding the recovery. But few economists expect a repeat of the winter, when a spike in COVID-19 cases pushed the recovery into reverse. More than a quarter of U.S. adults have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, and more than 2 million people a day are being inoculated.
“This time is different and that’s because of vaccines,” said Julia Pollak, a labor economist at the job site ZipRecruiter. “It’s real this time.”