Trump Celebrates a Major Win as Jobs Report Blows Economists' Expectations Out of the Water

In a surprising twist for economic analysts, the U.S. economy saw significantly stronger job growth in March than anticipated.

Despite ongoing uncertainty in financial markets tied to President Donald Trump’s tariff measures, fresh employment data suggested economic momentum in the heartland was holding strong.

The Labor Department reported Friday that 228,000 new jobs were created during the month.

“We are already seeing the benefits of @POTUS’ effort to reshape and rebuild our economy to put the American Worker First,” the agency posted on X.

According to The Wall Street Journal, economists had projected a gain of just 140,000 jobs.

By comparison, February saw an increase of 117,000 jobs under the Trump administration.

Economist Alfredo Ortiz shared his thoughts in a video posted to X, saying, “One thing that I think was very positive about this report is that we’re seeing job growth in the private payroll sector, not in government jobs.”

He continued, “Remember, in the prior administration, job growth was in government jobs. We were shifting away from, you know, private sector payrolls to government payrolls, which is all on the taxpayer dime.”

Other economic commentators agreed the numbers were encouraging.

“You cannot find any evidence of a nascent recession in these figures,” wrote Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, in a client note cited by USA Today.

Job gains were led by the health care industry with 54,000 new positions, followed by leisure and hospitality at 43,000. Retail added 24,000 jobs, while transportation and warehousing grew by 23,000, according to the Labor Department.

“Today’s better than expected jobs report will help ease fears of an immediate softening in the US labor market,” said Lindsay Rosner, head of multi-sector fixed income investing at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, as quoted by CNBC. However, she noted that tariff-related risks still loom.

President Trump pointed to the figures as validation of his economic strategy.

“GREAT JOB NUMBERS, FAR BETTER THAN EXPECTED. IT’S ALREADY WORKING. HANG TOUGH, WE CAN’T LOSE!!!” he declared on Truth Social.