Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 162,000 in March, compared to the forecast of economists which called for an increase of 184,000. The unemployment rate remained at 9.7% for the third-straight month, as expected, while average hourly earnings declined 0.1% month-over-month in March. The increase in jobs in March was aided by the hiring of 48,000 workers from the federal government for Census 2010.
The ISM Manufacturing Index improved from an unrevised 56.5 in February to 59.6 in March, above the consensus forecast of economists, which anticipated a slight increase to 57.0. New orders increased from 59.5 to 61.5 and prices paid jumped from 67.0 to 75.0.
Construction spending fell 1.3% in February, more than the expectation of a 1.0% decline, and January’s 0.6% decrease was revised to a 1.4% drop.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 70 points (0.7%) to close at 10,927, the S&P 500 Index gained 9 points (0.7%) to 1178, and the Nasdaq Composite was 5 points (0.2%) higher at 2,403. Crude oil was $1.25 higher at $85.01 per barrel, and the Bloomberg gold spot price gained $12.40 to $1,125.65 per ounce. For the week, the DJIA rose 0.7%, the S&P 500 Index advanced by 1.0%, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.3%.
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