But the stronger-than-expected payroll gains — what normally might boost markets and optimism across the board — was doomed to fail to deliver that jolt from the start, as attention has turned toward the widespread tariffs that Trump announced earlier this week. Stocks continued to tumble on Friday, following the S&P 500’s worst day since 2020, and aggravated by retaliatory measures from China before the jobs data.
US job growth topped all forecasts in March, suggesting the labour market was holding up well before President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariffs start making their way through the economy.
Nonfarm payrolls increased 228,000 last month in a broad advance, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data out Friday. Downward revisions to the prior two months were modest, and while the unemployment rate rose, it was mostly a rounding error.
