Job growth accelerated in March, following a strong gain in February. Furthermore, the unemployment rate fell to 3.8%. March’s jobs report shows that the labor market remains resilient despite elevated interest rates. The strong job numbers likely reduce prospects for a Federal Reserve rate cut in the near-term (NAHB has just two rate cuts in our forecast for 2024). Also, for March 2024, we saw the wage growth slow down. On a year-over-year basis (YOY), wages grew 4.1% in March, the lowest annual gain since June 2021. Wage growth is positive if matched by productivity growth. If not, it can be a sign of lingering inflation. …In March, the unemployment rate fell to 3.8%, from 3.9% in February. The number of unemployed persons declined by 29,000 to 6.4 million, while the number of employed persons rose by 498,000. Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate rose two percentage points to 62.7%.