Hiring Expected to Increase After Slow March Growth

Although the unemployment rate held steady at 5.5% in March, hiring slowed to its weakest pace in over a year. April data from the U.S. Department of Labor reflected an economy slowed by the strong dollar and lukewarm overseas market, as well as lower energy prices. Economists predict the slowdown is a temporary response to a year of strong job growth and the effects of rough winter weather on construction and consumer spending.

Employers added just 126,000 new jobs in March, half of what economists predicted and ending a yearlong run of 200,000+ job gains per month. Job growth in Q1 averaged slightly less than 200,000 a month, down from 324,000 in Q4 2014.

Read more at the LA Times