Washington, DC, April 1--The labor market added only 110,000 jobs in March, and fewer job gains were recorded in the first two months of the year than previously thought, the Labor Department said Friday.
The increase in March payrolls was well short of Wall Street expectations. Economists were expecting payroll employment to rise by 221,000 in March.
Payrolls in February and January were revised down by a total of 27,000.
The report should ease market fears that the Federal Reserve will become more aggressive.
The separate household survey continued to show contradictory signs. A surge in employment in the household survey caused the unemployment rate to decline to 5.2 percent in March from 5.4 percent in February.
This was below Wall Street expectations for the unemployment rate to slip to 5.3 percent.
Average hourly earnings increased 4 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $15.95. The average workweek was steady at 33.7 hours.
Two key sectors of the economy actually showed job declines in March.
Retail employment fell by 10,000 in March, while manufacturing employment fell by 8,000. Several industries added jobs in March, notably construction, health care and mining.
