U.S. adds 103,000 jobs in March, falling short of expectations

The United States economy added 103,000 new jobs in March, the Labor Department reported Friday, with gains falling far short of the 185,000-job increase many analysts expected. The number is down from 326,000 new jobs added in February. Unemployment stayed flat at 4.1 percent.

"The upsurge in job creation in February was aided by unseasonably warm weather that boosted employment in outdoor industries such as construction," explains MarketWatch, while "weather effects could play an outsized role in March," economists at Nomura predicted prior to the report.

Manufacturing jobs have also done well, adding 224,000 jobs in the past year, The New York Times reports. The average monthly job gain over the past six months has been 205,000, which is up from an average of 176,000 in the six months prior.

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