Hiring is up | Power Line

Way up. Lost (or forgotten) in the continuing stock market “carnage” on Friday was an amazingly good employment report issued by the U.S. Dept. of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The headline from this morning’s Wall Street Journal,

Hiring Defied Expectations in March, With 228,000 New Jobs.

“Defying expectations,” the March number came in above even the high end of analyst predictions. Reuters reports on what had been expected,

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls advancing by 135,000 jobs after a previously reported 151,000 rise in February. Estimates ranged from 50,000 to 185,000.

So, the actual number came in more than 40,000 new jobs above the highest estimate.

The February jobs figure saw a slight downward revision. But even with that, the combined February/March numbers (representing the first two full months of Trump’s second term) have come in above the average hiring rate of the past twelve months, the Journal reports.

The unemployment rate held steady at 4.2 percent, where it has been, more or less, for the past year.

Hiring was broad based, with increased March hiring in 12 of the 16 sectors tracked by the Bureau. Of the 12 industry sectors showing March net job growth, all but one exceeded their respective 1-year hiring rates.

The one exception was state government, which gained jobs, but at a slower rate. In an even happier development, the federal government lost jobs and was the sector showing the greatest net losses. BLS reports,

Within government, federal government employment declined by 4,000 in March, following a loss of 11,000 jobs in February.

For those hoping to see even bigger federal jobs cuts, Reuters notes that,

The BLS said employees on paid leave or receiving ongoing severance pay are counted as employed, explaining the modest decline in federal government layoffs.

So, the first two months of Trump’s 2nd term have seen net job cuts in federal employment, with more cuts in the pipeline.

Both the Journal and Reuters took pains to water down the good news by including “meanwhile” paragraphs on tariffs, stock market declines, protests, etc.

As for the market “carnage,” Business Insider noted the following back in January 2024,

The wealthiest 10% of Americans own 93% of stocks even with market participation at a record high

Meanwhile, the bottom 50% of Americans held just 1% of all stocks in the third quarter of 2023.

And by “participation,” Business Insider reports,

Americans broadly have been participating in the stock market at a higher rate, with a record 58% of households owning stocks in 2023, according to the Fed’s Survey of Consumer Finances.

I’m sure that just about everyone has some skin in the game through 401k’s and pension funds. But more than two out of every five Americans aren’t in the stock game at all.

Of course, you and I, and everyone we know, are in the market. But we don’t represent the typical American.