The Worst Part Of Friday's Jobs Report Has Nothing To Do With Oil

Unexpectedly low March employment growth posted Friday raises uncertainty about the state of the overall U.S. economy, an expert said.

"It makes you question what's going on," TD Ameritrade Chief Strategist JJ Kinahan told Benzinga.

Employers added just 126,000 new jobs to the economy during March, versus Wall Street's expectation of 245,000.

Although below-average winter temperatures in much of the country were probably a factor in the jobs report, Kinahan pointed also to the effects of lower oil prices. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, mining jobs (which include oil and gas extraction) have fallen by 30,000 this year after gaining 41,000 in 2014.

Of Particular Concern

Retail and professional business services job creation rose, but of particular concern to Kinahan was restaurant and bar job growth, which significantly underwhelmed expectations.

BLS data shows employment in this area rose by 9,000 jobs last month compared with a growth of 66,000 in February.

Related Link: U.S. Jobs Market Flunks March Performance Evaluation

"[We'd] want to continue to see improvement there," the expert explained.

The official unemployment rate, meanwhile, held steady at 5.5 percent, but Kinahan said job creation is a more meaningful measure of economic performance.

Another Opinion

Separately, Morningstar economist Robert Johnson said he's sticking by his forecast for 250,000 new jobs for 2015.

The year-over-year employment growth rate of 2.4 percent is "still rock-solid," Johnson said.

Inflation-adjusted hourly wages were up 2.2 percent from a year earlier, which he called "the healthiest wage growth of the recovery."

The slower growth makes a June rate increase by the Federal Reserve "very very difficult," Johnson said. "We're looking at September rather than June."