WASHINGTON — Employers feeling upbeat about the economy boosted hiring by 211,000 in a springtime burst that pushed the unemployment rate down to 4.7 percent, matching its lowest point in 4 1/2 years.
The employment picture for March, released by the Labor Department on Friday, suggested that a strengthening economic expansion is putting companies in the hiring mood and brightening prospects for job seekers.
Hiring gains were fairly widespread. Construction, retailers, financial activities, education and health care, and government were among the sectors posting payroll gains. That helped to blunt job losses in manufacturing and in the transportation industries.
"I think the job market is on a roll," said Bill Cheney, chief economist at John Hancock Financial Services. "Businesses are doing pretty well these days. Profits are growing nicely. I think businesses are at a point where they feel more comfortable adding people."
But on Wall Street, stocks sank as investors fretted that businesses' growing appetite for workers might drive up wages — and inflation — down the road. The Dow Jones industrials lost 96.46 points to close at 11,120.04. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 13.54 to 1,295.50, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 22.15 to 2,339.02.
Friday's retreat left the major indexes barely changed this week, with the Dow up 0.1 percent, the S&P 500 adding 0.05 percent and the Nasdaq off 0.03 percent.
President Bush, coping with low job-approval ratings in a congressional election year, said the job figures provided "evidence of an economic resurgence that is strong, broad and benefiting all Americans." The president said his tax cuts were central to this and called on Congress to make them permanent.
Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, agreed. "Five million new jobs since August 2003, historically low unemployment and high GDP are a few important examples of why the Congress must continue to implement these policies responsible for the impressive economic recovery we've experienced," he said in a prepared statement.
Democrats, however, countered that the tax cuts mainly helped the wealthy and helped plunge the nation's balance sheets into red ink. Rep. George Miller of California called Bush "completely out of touch with reality."
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., observed: "Mothers and fathers are working harder and longer and struggling to keep up with the soaring costs of health insurance, gas and college tuition."
The unemployment rate, which dropped from February's 4.8 percent, ended up matching January's jobless rate.
For blacks, though, the unemployment rate didn't budge; it held steady at 9.3 percent in March. The unemployment rate for Hispanics dipped to 5.4 percent last month, and the jobless rate for whites edged down to 4 percent.
Overall employment was stronger in March than economists were expecting. They had forecast a gain of 190,000 jobs and believed the civilian jobless rate would hold steady.
The economy added 154,000 jobs in January and another 225,000 in February, according to revised figures released Friday. While job gains for each of those months turned out to be slightly less than previously reported, payroll growth for the January-to-March quarter as a whole was brisk. Job growth over the first three months of this year averaged 197,000.
Employees' average hourly earnings, meanwhile, were $16.49 in March, a modest 0.2 percent increase from February — less than economists were expecting.
With the economy growing nicely and the job market blooming, the Federal Reserve and other economists are keeping a close eye on wage growth.
Wage improvement is good for workers, but a rapid, sustained acceleration would trigger inflation concerns.