A labor market cooldown: Are we in a period of slower economic growth?

Unemployment fell slightly last month -- from 3.6% to 3.5% -- according to last week's monthly jobs report from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The March jobs report showed hiring slowed last month but likely not by enough to ease pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in its efforts to slow inflation.

The Labor Department reported Friday that payrolls grew by 236,000 for the month, compared to the Dow Jones estimate for 238,000 and below the upwardly revised 326,000 in February.

By industry, leisure and hospitality was again the largest contributor to last month's job gains with 72,000 new workers coming into the sector during March.

Still, economists see March's jobs data as beginning a period of slower growth for the U.S. labor market that will eventually result in a rise in the unemployment rate. In fact, the Fed?expects?unemployment to rise to 4.5% by the end of this year.

Here are our key takeaways from the latest report:

1. On average, more than 330,000 jobs were added monthly for the last six months
2. Employment in the "Professional and Business Services" sector of our economy continues to trend upward...as it has for months and months
3. The number of open jobs is still way higher than the number of people getting hired so that's definitely a sign this is a candidate-driven job market.

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