US job creation tumbles

Monthly job creation in the world's largest economy tumbled in March to its lowest level since September, the government reported Friday, a decline attributed in large part to harsh weather.

The slowdown in hiring was likely to be unwelcome news at the White House, as President Donald Trump presses ahead with a multi-front confrontation with China and other trading partners that has alarmed much the business community and Republican Party.

US employers added only 103,000 net new positions last month, the Labor Department said in the closely-watched report. That gain was less than a third of the surge seen in February and far lower than the 175,000 analysts expected.

But the unemployment rate held steady at the 17-year-low of 4.1 percent for the sixth month in a row while wages rose faster than expected, according to the report.

The weak hiring followed more trade turmoil overnight, as Trump sharply raised the ante in a fresh tit-for-tat exchange with Beijing, calling for an tariffs on an additional tariffs of $100 billion in Chinese imports.

Markets sank early Friday on the trade brinkmanship and jobs data double-whammy.