The US Labor Department also revised the number of jobs created in February down from 235,000 to 219,000, while the figure for January was lowered from 238,000 to 216,000.
The U.S. added 98,000 jobs in March, down from the gains of more than 215,000 jobs seen in both January and February. The four-week moving average for this figure also fell 7,750 to 2,023,000 - its lowest level in almost 17 years. A recent Fox News poll found that 48% of registered voters feel that the economy is getting better. Declining on the month were retail trade (-29,700) and information (-3,000).
Employment grew by 19,400 jobs in March, an increase of 0.1 per cent, according to Statistics Canada.
But in March, construction companies added just 6,000 jobs, the fewest in seven months. Bloomberg said the fact that the jobless rate fell even as job creation did suggests that the market is returning to more normal conditions.
"Hiring in March was expected to drop after the monthly gains of more than 200,000 in the two previous months, but this marks the weakest showing for the economy in almost a year", writes Nelson D. Schwartz at The New York Times.
The civilian labor force participation rate was 63.0%, unchanged from February.
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The reason relates to a little-known fact about the government's monthly jobs report: The government conducts one survey to learn how many jobs were created and another to determine the unemployment rate.
The unemployment rate fell to a post-crisis low of 4.5%, and the number of people who were working part-time but preferred full-time jobs fell by 151,000 to 5.5 million. But wage growth has been relatively flat since the recession despite the steady increase in jobs.
As a result, an alternative gauge of unemployment, which includes those part-timers as well as people who have given up their job hunts, dropped to 8.9 per cent. But those orders slipped in February and remain below levels of a year ago.
In March, the average hourly earnings rose 5 cents to 26.14 US dollars, following a 6-cent increase in February.
Across the river in Ohio, Meigs and Gallia counties also saw unemployment rates drop.
Weather-related issues may have had a hand in March's numbers as a big snowstorm in mid-month may have depressed activity.
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