US March non-farm payrolls +303K vs +200K expected

• Prior +275K (revised to +270K)
• Two-month net revision +22K vs -167K prior
• Unemployment rate 3.8% vs 3.9% expected
• Prior unemployment rate 3.9%
• Participation rate 62.7% vs 62.5% prior
• U6 underemployment rate 7.3% vs 7.3% prior
• Average hourly earnings +0.3% m/m vs +0.3% expected (unrounded +0.347%)
• Prior avg hourly earnings +0.1% m/m (revised to +0.2%)
• Average hourly earnings +4.1% y/y vs +4.1% expected
• Average weekly hours 34.4 vs 34.3 expected
• Change in private payrolls 232K vs +160K expected
• Change in manufacturing payrolls 0K vs +5K expected
• Household survey +498K vs +63K prior
• Birth-death adjustment K

The wage numbers are hotter than they look. The prior was revised higher and the rounded number was very close to +0.4%. Moreover, the numbers all would have been higher if not for the uptick in weekly hours.

On the downside, government jobs rose a whopping 71K and the prior was revised to +63K from +52K. The leisure and hospitality sector was another big driver, which aren’t exactly high-paying jobs.

On net though, you have to take this one at face value and Treasury yields are rising 4-5 bps on this across the curve. The US dollar is up 20-30 pips as well.

This article was written by Adam Button at www.forexlive.com.