- Austan Goolsbee, former White House economist
It seems that American labour market is shrugging off the negative effect from the severe winter, as companies picked up in hiring, while overall unemployment rate still refuses to inch lower. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said the world's largest economy created 192,000 new jobs in March, following a 197,000 gain a month earlier that was larger than initially expected. Economists, however, expected a 200,000 increase. Despite the fact the data missed markets' expectations, private employment, which strips out government positions, surpassed its pre-crisis peak for the first time. The overall unemployment rate held steady at 6.7%.
The recent drop in the unemployment was driven by a decline in the labour force. This report showed that almost a half million people entered the labour force, while the same amount found work. What is more important, the participation rate inched higher to 63.2% from 63% earlier.
With the weather-related weakness being behind the economy, American companies are projected to add around 200,000 jobs per month, pushing the unemployment down and allowing the central bank to proceed with winding down its stimulus programme and preparing for a first rate hike in the first half of 2015.
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