The jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed total nonfarm payrolls rose by 130,000 while the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 4.3 percent, the agency said.
The household survey indicated 7.4 million people were unemployed and the labor force participation rate held near 62.5 percent, with the employment population ratio near 59.8 percent, the BLS reported.
Longer term measures were little changed, with 1.8 million people jobless for 27 weeks or more, and 4.9 million working part time for economic reasons after a 453,000 decline in that group, according to BLS tables.
On the establishment side, health care led hiring with an 82,000 increase, including gains in ambulatory services, hospitals, and nursing and residential care facilities, the BLS said.
Social assistance rose by 42,000, mainly in individual and family services, while construction added 33,000 jobs led by nonresidential specialty trade contractors, the agency added.
Federal employment fell by 34,000 as some workers who accepted deferred resignation offers left payrolls, and financial activities lost 22,000 jobs, the BLS noted.
Average hourly earnings for private nonfarm payrolls rose by 15 cents to 37.17 dollars, up 3.7 percent over the prior year, and the average workweek edged up by 0.1 hour to 34.3 hours.
The BLS also released benchmark revisions that substantially lowered prior estimates, cutting the seasonally adjusted level for a prior spring month by 898,000 and reducing the prior year total from 584,000 to 181,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis.
The agency said it adjusted seasonal factors and changed its birth death model to use current sample information each month, and noted severe winter storms had no discernible national effect on payrolls though household survey response rates were below average.
Market Reaction Policy Response And Expert Views
Financial markets moved after the release, with stock futures and longer dated Treasury yields rising as traders scaled back bets on near term rate cuts, several news reports said.
The report was described by President Trump on social media as "GREAT JOBS NUMBERS FAR GREATER THAN EXPECTED" and used to press for lower interest rates, according to published quotes.
Economists and strategists gave mixed readings. Heather Long said the labor market appears to be stabilizing, and Samuel Rines called the print a blowout given recent expectations, both quoted in coverage of the report.
Other analysts noted the gains were narrowly concentrated in health care and social assistance, and cautioned that the underlying trend remained muted, comments attributed to various economists in the reporting said.
Some market commentators said the stronger than expected payrolls support the Federal Reserve holding policy steady at its next meeting, and futures traders moved the expected timing of the next cut further into the future, according to coverage citing market gauges.
Overall, the BLS release combined a solid single month of hiring with large downward revisions to prior months, a mix observers said that tempers both optimism and concern about labor market momentum.
