Later this morning, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the March 2017 jobs report. The consensus is for a net addition of 178,000 jobs, down from February’s 235,000. The unemployment rate is expected to remain unchanged at 4.7%. Other data show the risk is to the upside here.
First, jobless claims came in at 234,000, taking the 4-week average back down to 250,000, which compares favourably to the 270,250 average a year ago. I think claims at this level are consistent with around 200,000 jobs being added each month to US payrolls.