American companies reported a surprisingly weak 98,000 new jobs in March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday morning. Analysts had expected a strong 175,000, and markets were caught off-guard as the construction industry added just 6,000 positions, possibly down because of an early-spring snowstorm. The unemployment rate fell to 4.5 percent, and hourly wages rose 2.7 percent from a year earlier. The jobless figure is the lowest since May 2007.
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