U.S. Employment Rises Much Less Than Expected In March

(RTTNews) - Employment in the U.S. rose by much less than expected in the month of March, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Friday.

The report said non-farm payroll employment rose by 126,000 jobs in March following a downwardly revised increase of 264,000 jobs in February.

Economists had expected employment to increase by about 245,000 jobs compared to the addition of 295,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the unemployment rate held at a six-year low of 5.5 percent in March, unchanged from February and in line with economist estimates.