The Center Square) – The U.S. added 228,000 jobs in March, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Friday, nearly double what was forecast.
Employment gains occurred in the health care, transportation, warehousing and retail trade industries, according to the Labor department.
The overall gains come despite significant layoffs in the federal government under the Trump administration.
President Donald Trump is touting the gains as byproducts of his administration’s policies and of the tariffs he has spoken of for months but revealed specifics of on Wednesday.
“Great job numbers, far better than expected. It’s already working. Hang tough, we can’t lose!!!” the president wrote in all caps on Truth Social Friday morning.
Trumpunveiled a series of reciprocal tariffs on countries that have for years been placing tariffs on U.S. imports. While the markets reacted negatively to the tariffs and many economists say they will increase costs for U.S. consumers, Trump says his tariff plan will help bring back manufacturing and other jobs to the country.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the numbers are evidence of Trump’s policies, citing a “sharp increase in transportation, construction, and warehousing employment.
“GREAT NEWS! The economy is starting to roar with a strong 228,000 jobs added in the month of March — well ahead of the market’s expectation,” she wrote on Truth Social. “The President’s push to onshore jobs here in the United States is working. The Golden Age of America is on its way!”
U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer said in a statement the job numbers demonstrate a “strong expansion that will only continue when jobs that were previously shipped overseas are brought back to the United States.”