US labor market added 178,000 jobs in March ahead of economists’ expectations

US payrolls rebounded in March, with the economy adding 178,000 jobs versus 70,000 expected, while unemployment fell to 4.3% from a revised 4.4%/prior-month weakness. The report signals a resilient labor market after February’s 133,000-job loss was revised lower and January was revised up to 160,000, leaving employment broadly flatter than initially reported but not collapsing. The broader backdrop remains a “low-fire, low-hire” labor market: Challenger counted 217,362 Q1 job cuts, the lowest first-quarter total since 2022, while quits fell to 1.9%, the weakest since 2020. That combination suggests employers are cautious but not yet aggressively shedding staff, even as inflation has steadied around 2.4% and energy costs are becoming a fresh risk after gas prices moved above $4/gallon. For precious metals, the print is modestly bearish on the margin if it reinforces the case for sticky rates and a stronger dollar, but inflation risk from oil could quickly offset that by reviving safe-haven and inflation-hedge demand. The key near-term catalyst is whether the Iran conflict drives a sustained energy shock; the article cites a rule of thumb that every $10/bbl rise in oil can add about 0.2% to inflation, which would keep pressure on real yields and support gold if growth deteriorates.