US added 431,000 jobs in March - just 59,000 less than expected

Amid soaring and threats of a possible recession, Friday's jobs report offered President Biden a sigh of relief: jobs figures only slightly under what was expected as the labor market grew increasingly tighter.

U.S. nonfarm payrolls added 431,000 jobs in March, a figure nearly 60,000 shy of what experts had predicted, while unemployment dropped more than expected to 3.6 percent, according to newly released Department of Labor figures.

Economists surveyed by expected to drop from 3.8 percent to 3.7 percent, with the nation adding 490,000 to the payrolls. A 3.7 percent unemployment rate would be the lowest since the pandemic struck two years ago, when unemployment was at 3.5 percent.

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