Unemployment rate drops to 5-month lowAmerica's employers increased hiring in March, drivi

Unemployment rate drops to 5-month low

America's employers increased hiring in March, driving the unemployment rate down to a five-month low of 4.4%. It was a surprisingly strong performance in an economy that has otherwise shown signs of sluggishness recently.

The new snapshot, released by the Labor Department today, also showed that companies expanded their payrolls by 180,000 employees in March, the most since December. Workers also saw their paychecks get bigger. The fresh figures suggested that companies are not feeling a need to dramatically decrease hiring in the face of the slower overall economic activity and the deep housing slump.

The report was stronger than economists were expecting. They were calling for the economy to add around 135,000 jobs in March and for the unemployment rate to actually edge up to 4.6%. The 4.4% unemployment rate, which dropped down a notch from 4.5% in February, matched the rate in October.

Jobs gains in March were fairly widespread, except for the struggling manufacturing sector, which continued to cut jobs for the ninth month in a row; factories cut 16,000 in March alone. Some business services also trimmed jobs, by 7,000 last month.

Construction companies, after suffering heavy job losses in February in part due to unfavorable winter weather, bulked up in March. They added 56,000 positions last month, the most in just over a year. Retailers added nearly 36,000 jobs last month. Education and health-care services expanded employment by 54,000. Leisure and hospitality picked up 21,000 jobs, while the government added 23,000.

Why is the recent drop in unemployment rate surprising？

A．Because it's the lowest level in a year.

B．Because it's above the government's expectations.

C．Because the central bank raised interest rates.

D．Because the economy is still struggling.