US jobs data misses target for March

The number of new jobs created in the US in March has missed estimates but failed to dent investor optimism as US markets opened higher this afternoon.

March non-farm payrolls showed 192,000 jobs were added last month, missing estimates of 200,000 from economists. The data was seen as a major test of the health of the US economy, after poor weather was blamed for wobbles in the January and February readings. But while the forecast missed estimates, it was resilient enough to show the recovery is continuing. Markets opened marginally higher in reaction, the S&P 500 up by 0.1%. Shares in the UK remained firmer, up 0.5% at 6,683 by mid-afternoon.