(RTTNews) – A closely watched report released by the Labor Department on Friday showed that employment in the United States rose much more than expected in March.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment increased by 916,000 jobs in March after increasing by 468,000 revised upward jobs in February.

Economists expected employment to jump by 647,000 jobs from the 379,000 addition initially reported for the previous month.

The larger than expected increase in employment reflects widespread employment growth, with employment in the leisure and hospitality sector again leading the way.

Employment in the leisure and hospitality sector increased by 280,000 jobs in March after jumping by 384,000 jobs in February.

The report also showed a significant rebound in government employment, reflecting an increase in education employment amid the continued resumption of in-person learning and other school-related activities in many parts of the country.

Construction employment also rebounded, climbing 110,000 jobs in March after falling 56,000 jobs in February, reflecting the lessening impact of harsh winter conditions.

Stronger-than-expected job growth led to a continued decline in the unemployment rate, which fell to 6.0% in March from 6.2% in February. The decline corresponds to expectations.

With the drop, the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since reaching 4.4% in March 2020, when coronavirus lockdowns were just starting to take effect.

The drop in the unemployment rate came as household employment jumped 609,000 people compared to an increase of 347,000 people in the size of the labor force.

Meanwhile, the report says average hourly earnings for employees edged down $ 0.04 or 0.1% to $ 29.96. Annual wage growth slowed to 4.2% in March from 5.2% in February.

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