Geoffrey Smith 

Investing.com — In March, the U.S. labor market was tighter than ever. The unemployment rate fell to an all-time low post-pandemic. However, the economy still created more jobs than anticipated.

In March, the number of people employed rose 431,000, far below expectations for an increase of 490,000. However, this shortfall was entirely offset by an upward revision 62,000 to February data which increased the gain to 750,000. 

According to forecasts, it fell slightly from 3.8% in February to 3.6%. 

Also, the growth was higher than predicted. This is a sign of a shift in the power balance on the labor market towards workers. A survey by the Labor Department released earlier this week showed that the U.S. has more than 11,000,000 unfilled positions in March. In March 2017, earnings grew by 5.6%, the fastest pace since the outbreak.

The report was largely a reaffirmation of existing economic perceptions and markets were not affected by it. It quickly reversed the gains it made on the numbers and traded at 98.537 on Tuesday, up 0.2%. The upward trend in U.S. Treasury bonds yields continued, but it didn’t pick up any momentum. At 8:50 am ET (1350 GMT), U.S. Treasury yield had risen 1 basis point to 2.42%.

That small movement was, however, enough to take it below the   yield, sparking fresh chatter about the shape of the yield curve. Short rates rising above long rates is often interpreted to indicate a slowdown in growth, or perhaps a recession. The spread between 10-year and rates is still positive, which many consider more significant because many of the bonds used for funding are borrowed at extremely short terms. Federal Reserve officials frequently emphasized the importance of the Fed selling its long-dated bonds quicker to preserve the spread.