The pace of job creation rose far less than expected in March, with the U.S. economy generating 120,000 new positions, a sharp drop from the prior three months' average of 245,000.
The unemployment rate slid to 8.2 percent, according to government data released Friday.
That compares to 227,000 workers added in February, when the unemployment rate was reported at 8.3 percent.
The consensus forecast for March had been for 203,000 total jobs, with the unemployment rate unchanged, according to Thomson Reuters.
The jobs report was released as U.S. stock markets closed for the Good Friday holiday. The U.S. bond market and futures markets were open for part of the day. The last time the jobs report was released on Good Friday was in 2010.
Still holding my FAS puts which was risky over this weekend, let's see how the futures do with the news. They open for 45 minutes of trading today and close at 9:15 A.M.
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