U.S. employers add 431,000 jobs in March, unemployment ticks slightly downward

The United States economy added over 430,000 jobs in March, sending unemployment slightly downward and offering the Biden administration a needed albeit small boost amid waves of difficult news cycles.

The economy “added 431,000 jobs in the month of March, and the unemployment rate was 3.6 percent, down from 3.8 percent in February,” Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh said in a press release at the Labor Department on Friday.

The Biden administration has been struggling in recent months with the crushing weights of inflation, persistent unemployment numbers and a major labor crisis throughout the country. 

Both the Biden administration and the Trump administration before it have dealt in particular with the massive job losses seen in the wake of the COVID-19 shutdowns, when millions were thrown out of work due to stay-at-home orders and lockdowns imposed by state governors due to fear of the coronavirus.