Employment growth in the US revised downwards

What happened

In the 12 months through March, the U.S. economy added 818,000 fewer jobs than originally reported, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said. The preliminary downward revision – from 242,000 to 174,000 new jobs per month – was part of the U.S. Labor Department's annual revision process, which uses more accurate state-by-state unemployment data.

Who said what

The weaker job growth numbers provide “new ammunition for critics who say the Federal Reserve is too late in cutting interest rates” and is too focused on “contain[ing]inflation, which is hurting the labor market,” according to the Washington Post. Even with the new numbers, according to the New York Times, “the overall picture remains relatively unchanged: Job growth is slowing but not collapsing. The unemployment rate is rising, but layoffs remain low.”

“This does not challenge the notion that we are still in an expansionary phase,” but it does point to more subdued monthly job growth and puts “additional pressure on the Fed to cut rates in September,” Robert Frick, an economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, told the Associated Press.

What happens next?