Good job news goes to waste on Wall Street

0

The Obama Administration finally got some good news on the jobs front, with the Labor Department reporting Friday that employers added 162,000 jobs in March. But alas, US stock markets were closed for Good Friday, so any reaction from Wall Street will have to wait until Monday.


The March jobs tally included the hiring of 48,000 temps for the US Census Bureau, so not all of the jobs are going to be there long-term. However, private employers added 123,000 positions, the most since May of 2007.

While good news for the President, the March increase in employment was expected – in fact, many private economists had expected even better numbers. With the economy showing signs of improvement, many Americans are re-entering the workforce and looking for jobs, so the official unemployment rate remained at 9.7% for the third straight month.