Job Creation Hits Four-Year High in March

For the channel, the strengthening job market provides reassurance that the economic recovery, and the recovery in technology spending, will not stall out in the second half of the year, as some economists had feared. When companies add jobs, it is a sign that business leaders are becoming more optimistic about longer-term trends in the economy in general and business conditions in their own markets specifically. This, in turn, can make them more amenable to boosting spending for technology products and services.

Payrolls surged 308,000 last month, nearly triple the figure expected by economists. Job growth was also stronger in January and February than was first indicated. Companies added 205,000 jobs in the two-month period, instead of the 118,000 that was initially reported.

Hiring was widespread, coming across most industries in the economy. Even the long-suffering manufacturing industry, which has shed hundred of thousands of jobs in the past four years, did not show any additional job loss in March.

This is another plus for the channel. As job creation spreads across the economy, it can open new opportunities for solution providers in industries where the spending environment may not have been so favorable in the past.

Despite the sharp increase in job creation, however, the nation's unemployment rate ticked up to 5.7 percent last month, up from 5.6 percent in February. The reason was that more people returned to the job market but were unsuccessful in finding employment.