US sharply lowers number of jobs added in year ending in March

The United States economy added 818,000 fewer jobs from April 2023 through March this year than were originally reported, the government says. The revised total adds to evidence that the job market has been steadily slowing and likely reinforces the US Federal Reserve’s plan to start cutting interest rates soon.

The Department of Labor estimated that job growth averaged 174,000 a month in the year that ended in March — a drop of 68,000 a month from the 242,000 that were initially reported. The revisions released Wednesday were preliminary with final numbers to be issued in February.

The downgraded estimate follows a jobs report for July that was much worse than expected, leading many economists to suggest that the Federal Reserve had waited too long to begin cutting interest rates to support the economy. The unemployment rate rose for the fourth straight month to a still-low 4.3 percent, and employers added just 114,000 jobs.

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