News / Economy

US job creation weakest since 2013

Friday, 03 April 2015 3:43 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 03 April 2015 5:01 PM ]

A Pennsylvania Department of Transportation crew working last month.

The US economy created the fewest number of jobs since December 2013 in March, heightening concerns over the recent slowdown in economic growth.

The US Labor Department said on Friday that American companies added just 126,000 new jobs last month, which was far below analysts' estimates.

Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected payrolls to rise nearly twice as much to about 248,000 jobs.

The unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.5 percent because more people stopped searching for work and dropped out of the labor force.

"It's definitely a disappointing report," says Jeffrey MacDonald, Director of Fixed Income Strategy at Fiduciary Trust Company International in New York. "It really was under any estimate you could find."

Analysts blamed the weak jobs gain on plunging oil prices and rising dollar as well as the harsh winter in the Northeast region of the US.

"There's no question that the economy is showing the negative effects of the stronger dollar and the collapse in oil prices. Corporate profits have come under pressure, and hiring has been adjusted in response," said Jim Baird, chief investment officer at Plante Moran Financial Advisors in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

The insignificant employment gains could raise concerns that the recent weakness in economic growth could be more fundamental rather than due to short-term factors.

Economist estimate that US economic activity slowed sharply over the past three months and gross domestic product was as low as a 0.6 percent on an annual pace.

AHT/GJH

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