By CountingPips.com
March’s government nonfarm payrolls employment data surpassed economic forecasts with a gain of 216,000 jobs for March while the unemployment rate fell to 8.8 percent. The March data marked the fastest pace of hiring in almost a year and follows a revised gain of 194,000 jobs in February and a revised gain of 68,000 jobs in January.
January’s employment data was revised higher to an increase of 68,000 jobs after a gain of 64,000 jobs was previously estimated while February’s data was revised from a 
gain of 192,000 to 194,000 jobs.
Market forecasters and economists were expecting the nonfarm payroll report to show a gain of approximately 190,000 jobs in March with the unemployment rate remaining at 8.9 percent.
The unemployment rate, now at 8.8 percent, fell from 8.9 percent in February and has reached its lowest level in just about 2 years.
Private companies added 230,000 jobs in March as the service sector created 199,000 jobs and the goods producing sector advanced by 31,000 jobs. Government hiring declined by 14,000 workers in March.
Professional and business services led the way in the service sector with job increases of 78,000 workers while education and health services hiring added 45,000 jobs in March. In the goods producing sector, manufacturing jobs rose by 17,000 workers while construction jobs fell by 1,000 workers.
US Dollar mixed in today’s Forex Trade
The US dollar has been mixed in forex trading action following the monthly government jobs report. The American currency has been gaining ground versus the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc while showing a decline versus the euro, British pound sterling, Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar and the Canadian dollar at time of writing.
The US stock markets, meanwhile, have been on the rise in trading today with the Dow Jones industrial average increasing by over 80 points while the NASDAQ has been higher by over 15 points and the S&P 500 has increased by approximately 10 points at time of writing.
In commodities, oil has increased to the $107.28 level while gold futures have decreased to trading at the $1,425.00 level so far today.
