US Hires 431,000 in March

U.S. employers delivered 431,000 jobs in March, according to the Labor Department in April. The unemployment rate decreased to 3.6%, down from 3.8% a month in advance.

“It’s all about the virus, the virus, the virus and the virus’s grip on the American psyche seems to have loosened,” said Austan Goolsbee, a professor on the University of Chicago and a MD of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Barack Obama. 

 The economic system has recovered more than 90% of the 22 million jobs misplaced at the peak of the pandemic’s lockdowns in the spring of 2020. President Biden emphasized the impact his presidency has had on unemployment rates. “Our rules are working,” he said. Wages climbed by  5.6% during the last year.

“By many measures, the labor market is extraordinarily tight, extensively tighter than the very robust activity market just before the pandemic,” Jerome H. Powell, the federal chair, stated in a current speech. Currently there are eight openings for every unemployed employee.

On the other hand, employees are continuing to leave their jobs, by choice, for personal reasons. Some economists expressed concern that the pandemic may have pushed many workers, specifically the ones at or near retirement age, to the sidelines completely.