228,000 new jobs created in March

The U.S. unemployment rate rose in March for the second straight month to 4.2%, the Department of Labor reported Friday. However, new job creation rose more than expected amid the trade war launched by President Donald Trump.

The index remains in the range that is considered full employment, but has been advancing since January, when it registered 4%, and February (4.1%) to 4.2% in March.

Analysts had expected the unemployment rate to hold steady at 4.1% in March, according to the MarketWatch consensus.

US created 228,000 new jobs in the month of March

The world's leading economy created 228,000 jobs in the month of March, according to data released by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The figure, estimated with a survey of businesses, far exceeds analysts' expectations, who were expecting no more than 150,000 jobs. Job creation figures for January were revised down by 14,000 to 111,000 and for February by 34,000 to 117,000.

This brings the U.S. total to 51 consecutive months of job creation. The last time net job losses occurred was in December 2020, at the end of Trump's first term.

4,000 fewer jobs in the federal government

For the time being, the massive layoffs in the public sector commanded by Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have not influenced the metrics.

Federal government employment declined by 4,000 in March, following an 11,000 job loss in February, but federal employees on paid leave or receiving ongoing severance pay are counted as employed in the survey.

The data, however, comes at a time of upheaval triggered by Trump's announcement of tariffs across the board. The president imposed minimum taxes of 10% on the bulk of imports from most countries, with higher rates on those with which the U.S. maintains a more uneven trade balance.

His announcement sent stock markets plummeting. Wall Street suffered its biggest drop since the start of the pandemic on Thursday, losing more than $3 trillion in value.