US economy expected to have added around 180,000 jobs in March - Rabobank

Stefan Koopman Market Economist at Rabobank suggests that today’s US employment report will cap a busy week on the economic calendar and it’s expected that the economy will have added around 180,000 jobs in March, which is more than enough to absorb the inflow of labor and, hence, to reduce the slack in the job market.

Key Quotes

“Other indicators, such as the ADP (+263k) or the ISM employment indices (58.9 for manufacturing, 51.6 for services) have been rather mixed.”

“The expected gain in payrolls would follow a 235,000 jump in February, which was significantly above the average of the past twelve months. This was partially due to a large increase in manufacturing and construction employment – the latter being positively affected by favorable weather conditions. It is expected that some of this will be reversed.”

“Even though the jobs data will always be the most important part of this report, the market will surely pay just as much attention to developments in the unemployment rate (4.7% expected), in the participation rate (63.0% prior) and in wages (2.7% y/y expected). With so many data points to pick, I’m sure there will be something in store for both bulls and bears.”