U.S. job growth slows in March

Employers pulled back sharply on hiring last month, a reminder that the U.S. economy may not be growing fast enough to sustain robust job growth. The unemployment rate dipped, but mostly because more Americans stopped looking for work.

The U.S. Labor Department said Friday the economy added 120,000 jobs in March, down from more than 200,000 in each of the previous three months. A Bloomberg News survey of economists had predicted the country would add 205,000 jobs in March.

The unemployment rate fell to 8.2 percent, the lowest since January 2009, from 8.3 percent in February. The rate dropped because fewer people searched for jobs. The official unemployment tally includes only those seeking work.

For Long Island, March unemployment data come out later this month. The trends in February here were quite different from the March national report.

The local unemployment rate inched up to 7.8 percent in February, from 7.7 percent a year ago, the New York State Labor Department said Tuesday. Though the rate remains at a recession-like high, the slight increase could indicate that the improving local job market has prompted more "discouraged workers" to begin looking for work again, thus pushing up the jobless rate. Discouraged workers are those who have stopped looking for work.

Economists cautioned that March was a single weak month after three solid gains. Still, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has warned that the U.S. economy is not growing fast enough to sustain recent hiring gains. If employers retreat on hiring, consumers could lose confidence and slow spending.

The Conference Board, a Manhattan-based business research group, said the national "jobs report fails to live up to expectations again." It singled out the retail sector, where employment fell by 34,000 jobs in March.

Index futures for the broad Standard & Poor's 500 stock index slumped 1.1 percent to 1,374.90 Friday, presaging a sharply lower stock market opening on Monday. Stock markets were closed for Good Friday. Yields on 10-year Treasury notes fell 0.13 percent, or 13 basis points, to 2.05 percent, on the job news, the biggest drop since Oct. 31.

Combined news services and Carrie Mason-Draffen