In this Wednesday, March 23, 2016, photo, a sanitation worker throws a stepladder into his truck in North Andover, Mass. On Friday, April 1, 2016, the government issues the U.S. jobs report for March.... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this Wednesday, March 23, 2016, photo, a sanitation worker throws a stepladder into his truck in North Andover, Mass. On Friday, April 1, 2016, the government issues the U.S. jobs report for March. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) (Associated Press) 
 
 In this Wednesday, March 23, 2016, photo, a sanitation worker throws a stepladder into his truck in North Andover, Mass. On Friday, April 1, 2016, the government issues the U.S. jobs report for March. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) (Associated Press) In this Wednesday, March 23, 2016, photo, a sanitation worker throws a stepladder into his truck in North Andover, Mass. On Friday, April 1, 2016, the government issues the U.S. jobs report for March.... (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers notched another solid month of hiring in March by adding 215,000 jobs, driven by large gains in the construction, retail and health care industries. 
 
 Despite the jump, the Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate ticked up to 5 percent from 4.9 percent. But that increase includes some good news: more Americans came off the sidelines to look for work, though not all found jobs. 
 
 The figures suggest that employers remain confident enough in their business prospects to add staff, even as overall growth has slowed since last winter. Many analysts estimate that the economy grew at a 1 percent annual rate or below in the first quarter. Continuing job gains indicate that employers may see the slowdown as temporary. 
 
 Steady hiring is also contributing to higher pay, which rose a modest 2.3 percent from a year earlier to $25.43. That figure has increased since the early years of the recovery, but is below a peak of 2.6 percent reached in December. 
 
 Sluggish wage growth has been a weak spot in the economy and a source of frustration for many workers since the Great Recession ended in 2009. Paychecks typically grow at a 3.5 percent pace in a strong economy. 
 
 Construction firms added 37,000 jobs, likely aided by warmer weather. That helped offset another month of job losses in manufacturing, which has been hit by slower growth overseas, and mining, which includes the oil and gas drilling sector. Low oil prices have cost that industry 185,000 since September 2014. 
 
 More jobs can help fuel consumer spending, which is a critical source of growth this year. Other potential drivers of the economy, such as exports and business investment, have weakened. 
 
 Consumer spending has faltered since last winter after healthy gains in 2015. Spending ticked up just 0.1 percent in February for the third month in a row. That tepid trend caused many economists to slash their growth forecasts. 
 
 Americans appear to be pocketing much of their savings from lower gas prices rather than spending them. The savings rate rose to 5.4 percent in February, the highest in a year. 
 
 Other economic data has been unusually mixed. Several reports suggest that manufacturers may be stabilizing after a difficult 2015, when weak overseas growth and the strong dollar hurt production. 
 
 Americans have pulled back a bit from home-buying. Sales of existing homes fell a sharp 7.1 percent in February, held back by a lack of available supply that has pushed up prices. ||||| In this Thursday, March 3, 2016, photo, Nino Alexander, of Lithonia, Ga., right, and Sabrina Britt, of Clarkston, Ga., left, interview for a job with Sweet Tomatoes restaurant general manager Valerie... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this Thursday, March 3, 2016, photo, Nino Alexander, of Lithonia, Ga., right, and Sabrina Britt, of Clarkston, Ga., left, interview for a job with Sweet Tomatoes restaurant general manager Valerie... (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. workers have been largely insulated from a global slowdown. 
 
 Job growth remains steady and wages are finally picking up — trends that will be put to the test in Friday's employment report for February. 
 
 Economists have forecast that employers added a solid 195,000 jobs last month, up from the 151,000 added in January, according to data firm FactSet. And the unemployment rate is expected to remain at a low 4.9 percent. 
 
 Hiring by construction companies, retailers and health care providers have offset layoffs at manufacturers and fossil fuel companies — two sectors squeezed by the pressures of uncertainty in China, sluggishness in Europe, declining oil prices and a stronger dollar. 
 
 Consumers have provided the foundation for much of the job market's improvement in what's become something of a self-sustaining cycle. The 2.7 million workers hired in the past 12 months have bolstered spending on autos, housing and meals out. As unemployment has dropped, more companies have begun to raise pay to attract workers, thereby fueling more hiring as people's ability to spend, invest and save has increased. 
 
 Friday's jobs report will be closely monitored by the Federal Reserve and presidential candidates as a key gauge of whether the economy is extending its 6½-year rebound from the Great Recession. 
 
 Recent reports point to continued improvement. 
 
 Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have risen 2.5 percent. Annual pay growth has perked up after having increased at a roughly 2 percent pace in the previous few years. The wage acceleration has prompted optimism among many economists despite the difficulties worldwide. 
 
 "The trend is wage growth is clearly a straight line upward — I believe we will hit the 3 percent threshold," said Andrew Chamberlain, chief economist at Glassdoor, a jobs marketplace. 
 
 The hiring and rising incomes have translated into more consumer spending in several key sectors. 
 
 Auto sales rose 7 percent over last February to 1.3 million vehicles, according to Autodata Corp. 
 
 Purchases of existing homes rose 0.4 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.47 million, according to the National Association of Realtors. That improvement followed a solid 2015, when sales achieved their highest level in nine years. 
 
 And spending at restaurants has risen 6.1 percent over the past 12 months. 
 
 Still, troubles abroad have tempered U.S. economic growth. 
 
 China, the world's second-largest economy, is struggling with high corporate debts and slower growth. Oil prices have tumbled amid relatively low demand. The strong dollar has crushed exports, while the stock market has dropped in an extended bout of volatility this year. 
 
 Mining companies, including oil and gas drillers, have shed 130,600 jobs in the past 12 months. Factories have hired just 45,000 workers from a year ago as job gains in the manufacturing sector have slowed after a strong 2014. 
 
 The Fed is looking for further wage growth. The central bank is considering whether to raise interest rates again in the face of global risks that could imperil broader economic growth. In December, the Fed raised rates from record lows — its first increase in nearly a decade. 
 
 Investors have largely dismissed the likelihood of another rate hike at the upcoming Fed meeting March 16-17. ||||| FILE- In this Jan. 30, 2018, file photo, an employee of Aldi, right, takes an application from a job applicant at a JobNewsUSA job fair in Miami Lakes, Fla. On Friday, April 6, the U.S. government issues... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE- In this Jan. 30, 2018, file photo, an employee of Aldi, right, takes an application from a job applicant at a JobNewsUSA job fair in Miami Lakes, Fla. On Friday, April 6, the U.S. government issues the March jobs report. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File) (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers added a modest 103,000 jobs in March after several months of bigger gains, though the government's overall jobs report suggests that the labor market remains healthy. 
 
 The Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate remained 4.1 percent, a 17-year low, for a sixth straight month. Average hourly pay ticked up, climbing 2.7 percent compared with a year earlier. 
 
 Hiring has accelerated since last fall, defying expectations that a shortage of workers would make it harder for companies to fill open positions. Employers have added a healthy average of 211,000 jobs a month in the past six months. 
 
 Still, hiring in January was revised sharply lower to 176,000, while February's figure was revised higher to a blockbuster 326,000. Overall, the revisions lowered job gains in those two months by 50,000. 
 
 The U.S. economy appears fundamentally healthy, with the recovery from the 2008-2009 Great Recession now the second-longest expansion since the 1850s, when economists began tracking recessions and recoveries. Still, the expansion has been puzzlingly slow, with economic growth averaging just 2.2 percent a year — about a percentage point below the historical average. But its durability has been broadly beneficial. 
 
 For example, a rising number of working-age Americans have begun looking for a job and finding one, reversing a trend from the first few years after the recession when many of the unemployed grew discouraged and stopped looking for work. 
 
 An increasing need to compete for workers may also finally be lifting wages in some sectors. Still, the steady influx of new workers, which gives employers more hiring options than the low unemployment rate might otherwise suggest, may be holding back overall pay growth. 
 
 Though the economy likely slowed in the first three months of this year, the healthy pace of hiring indicates that employers anticipate solid customer demand for the rest of the year. Macroeconomic Advisers, a consulting firm, forecasts that the economy grew at just a 1.4 percent annual rate in the January-March quarter — less than half the 2.9 percent annual pace of the October-December quarter. But the firm expects growth to rebound to a decent 3.1 percent annual pace in the current April-June quarter. 
 
 Other reports indicate that growing optimism among businesses and consumers should help propel the economy in the months ahead. 
 
 Businesses have stepped up their spending on manufactured goods, helping lift factory output. 
 
 And last month, factories expanded at a healthy pace after having grown in February at the fastest rate since 2004, according to a private survey. Government data showed that orders for long-lasting factory goods — including industrial machinery, metals and autos — surged in February. 
 
 Americans have spent less at retail chains in the past two months, after shopping at a healthy pace during the winter holiday season. With consumer confidence near the highest point in two decades, however, consumer spending is likely to rebound in the coming months.
– US employers notched another solid month of hiring in March by adding a higher-than-expected 215,000 jobs, driven by large gains in the construction, retail, and health care industries, the AP reports. Despite the jump, the Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate ticked up to 5% from 4.9%. But that increase includes some good news: More Americans came off the sidelines to look for work, though not all found jobs. The figures suggest that employers remain confident enough in their business prospects to add staff, even as overall growth has slowed since last winter. Steady hiring is also contributing to higher pay, which rose a modest 2.3% from a year earlier to $25.43. That figure has increased since the early years of the recovery but is below a peak of 2.6% reached in December. Sluggish wage growth has been a weak spot in the economy and a source of frustration for many workers since the Great Recession ended in 2009. Paychecks typically grow at a 3.5% pace in a strong economy. Construction firms added 37,000 jobs, likely aided by warmer weather. That helped offset another month of job losses in manufacturing, which has been hit by slower growth overseas, and mining, which includes the oil and gas drilling sector. Low oil prices have cost that industry 185,000 jobs since September 2014. Meanwhile, the MoneyBeat team at the Wall Street Journal has deemed Friday "datageddon" for all of the additional info scheduled to be released, including manufacturing data from the US, China, and Europe and an update from the University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment Index.