APRIL 5, 2021 – A SURGE IN NEW HIRINGS FOR MARCH
The US economy added 916,000 jobs in March, it’s the best monthly gain since August 2020, but there remain still 8.4 million fewer jobs now than there were in February 2020 before the pandemic took hold. The unemployment rate fell to 6% from 6.2% a month earlier, far below the peak of 15 percent at the peak of the pandemic.
Economists think this surge in hiring could be sustained as vaccinations keep getting rolled out, restrictions are lifted on businesses and consumers become more comfortable moving about. Consumer spending has risen in recent weeks. Much of the hiring came in the hotel and restaurant industry with an addition of 280,000 jobs. Some economists predict 1 million jobs will be added in April, and an average of 514,000 new jobs will be added each month over the next 12 months.