US adds 431,000 jobs as hiring spree cuts unemployment rate to 3.6%

Country posts 11th consecutive month of 400,000-plus gains, with labor force now just 174,000 below pre-pandemic level

The US added 431,000 jobs in March as the coronavirus pandemic receded and employers went on a hiring spree in America.

The gain was lower than expected but was also the 11th consecutive month of gains above 400,000, the longest such stretch of growth on record. The unemployment rate fell from 3.8% to 3.6%, its lowest level since the pandemic struck the US.