The US economy created the fewest jobs in six months in March as the boost from mild temperatures faded, but a pickup in wage gains pointed to a tightening labour market, which should allow the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates further this year.
Non-farm payrolls increased by 103,000 last month as construction and retail sectors shed jobs, the Labour Department said.
That was the smallest amount since last September and followed a 326,000 surge in February.
Temperatures returned to normal in March, with snowstorms in some parts of the country.
Job growth is also moderating as the labour market hits full employment.
There has been an increase in reports of employers, especially in the construction and manufacturing sectors, struggling to find qualified workers.
March's job growth was below the 202,000 average of the past three months and matched to the roughly 100,000 jobs per month needed to keep up with growth in the working-age population.
The unemployment rate held steady at 4.1% for a sixth straight month, even as people left the labour force.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the economy adding 193,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate dropping to 4%.
A broader measure of unemployment, which includes people who want to work but have given up searching and those working part time because they cannot find full-time employment, fell two-tenths of a percentage point to 8% last month.
With labour market slack diminishing, wage growth picked up a bit in March.
Average hourly earnings rose eight cents or 0.3% last month after edging up 0.1% in February.
The gain lifted the annual increase in average hourly earnings to 2.7% from 2.6% in February.
"The Fed will be primarily focused on the increase in average hourly earnings," said Paul Ashworth, chief US economist at Capital Economics in Toronto.
"Overall, looking through the volatility, employment growth is trending higher and wage growth is starting to heat up."
Economists say annual wage growth of at least 3% is needed to lift inflation toward the Fed's 2% target.
There is hope that wage growth will accelerate in the second half of the year and allow the US central bank to continue raising interest rates.
The Fed increased borrowing costs last month and forecast two more interest rate hikes this year.
US stock index futures extended losses on the employment report. Sentiment was already soured by the United States and China renewing their trade spat, stoking fears that the tit-for-tat actions could spiral into a trade war.
