Job growth in US topped 900,000 in March as hiring broadened

The payroll figures showed broad-based gains across industries, led by a 280,000 surge in leisure and hospitality

US employers added the most jobs in seven months with improvement across most industries in March, as more vaccinations and fewer business restrictions supercharged the labor market recovery.

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 916,000 last month and February employment was revised up to a 468,000 gain, according to a Labor Department report Friday. The unemployment rate fell to 6 per cent, and the workforce participation rate edged higher.

The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists was for a 660,000 gain in payrolls in March. The unemployment rate was projected to fall to 6 per cent.

Rising Covid-19 infections had