US employers added a surprise 228,000 jobs in March — much higher than analysts had anticipated in the last report before President Donald Trump unveiled his sweeping reciprocal tariff plan.

New payroll reports came in at 228,000, above last month’s 151,000 jobs and an especially robust figure considering significant federal layoffs from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls advancing by 135,000 jobs, with estimates ranging from 50,000 to 185,000.

The unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 4.2%, from 4.1% last month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Analysts had expected the rate to remain unchanged.

Healthcare, transportation and warehousing were among the sectors that continued to add jobs.

Some businesses have been hesitant to hire amid uncharted territory, implementing freezes ahead of Trump’s final tariff plan.

“At the surface level, it seems like a stable and resilient labor market. However, a closer examination of the data reveals that employers are exercising caution across nearly all sectors,” Ger Doyle, US manager at ManPower Group, a workforce solutions firm, said in a note.

Trump has said his reciprocal tariffs – including a 10% baseline tax on all imports and much higher rates on some nations – could be lowered through negotiations. Prolonged uncertainty from these talks could continue to hit markets and businesses.

“Businesses are focused on maintaining their operations with their existing workforces, but if uncertainty continues, they may consider how to right-size their business for the moment,” Doyle said.

Economists estimated that Trump’s sweeping import duties had boosted the nation’s effective tariff rate to the highest level in more than a century. 

They warned of snarled supply chains and high prices, culminating in layoffs as spending by both households and consumers retrenches.

The payroll report could offer some short-term relief to financial markets roiled by the import duties.

“While Friday’s jobs report showed that the economy is still adding jobs even with the tariff uncertainty and Federal job cuts, the data is backward looking and doesn’t say anything about how employers might fare over the coming months,” Glen Smith, chief investment officer at GDS Wealth Management, said in a note.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who is due to appear at a conference Friday morning, has “a key opportunity to calm markets” with his speech, Smith added.

The Fed’s policy rate is currently in the 4.25% to 4.50% range.

Data and sentiment surveys have suggested the economy stalled in the first quarter because of trade policy uncertainty and winter storms. Gross domestic product growth estimates for the first quarter are below a 0.5% annualized rate, with high odds of a contraction.

Economists are not ruling out a recession in the next 12 months.

They expect the effects of the reciprocal tariffs could be evident as soon as with April’s employment report. Retail payrolls are most likely to decline as consumers hunker down amid price increases.

With Post wires