What were the employment trends in March 2025?
The 聽showed an uptick in payroll job growth, with companies adding a net 228,000 jobs.聽 The unemployment rate edged up again to 4.2%. The biggest job gains were in the health care, social assistance, and transportation and warehousing sectors. Meanwhile, the impact of cuts from the Department of Government Efficiency meant a net loss of 4,000 federal jobs following a decline of 11,000 jobs in February. The report noted that employees on paid leave or receiving severance are still counted as employed.
Wage growth continues to be an important signal against a backdrop of rising concern about financial expectations expressed by consumers in recent surveys and a new element of uncertainty regarding the economic impact of announced tariffs. Average hourly earnings for all employees rose 3.8% from one year ago in March鈥攁 pace above pre-pandemic norms, but one that is also the lowest since July 2024.
What else do we know about today’s job market?
Earlier this week, the report, which contains information on the churn within the net numbers, showed that the labor market has cooled back to pre-pandemic pace. In February, we saw a smaller, but still sizable number of job openings. Job openings totaled 7.6 million, down from both the prior month (7.8 million) and prior year (8.4 million). The job openings rate also slipped to 4.5% from 4.7% in January. Job quits, which can be a gauge of worker confidence, fell to 3.2 million in February, down from 3.3 million in January and 3.5 million one year ago. The job quits rate of 2% was unchanged in the month. Month-to-month momentum was mixed, according to these indicators, but the labor market has loosened in the past year.
What does today鈥檚 data mean for homebuyers, sellers, and the housing market?
In the Realtor.com March housing data, we saw more sellers than a year ago, but pending home sales, an early stage of the transaction process, lagged behind. This signals a slower spring for home sales. Buyers grappling with high housing costs and added economic uncertainty are biding their time for now.
Fortunately, today鈥檚 data reflects a still fairly healthy labor market. Unfortunately, this data does not reflect reactions to the tariffs announced this week, which聽have unsettled markets and have businesses scrambling to figure out how to adjust. This means today鈥檚 reading is likely one of those cases where past performance is not indicative of future results
Subscribe to our mailing list to receive updates on the latest data and research.