US jobless rate down to 8.2% despite fall in job creation

Employers in the US added fewer jobs than forecast in March, underscoring Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke’s concern that recent rises may not be sustained without a pick-up in growth.

The 120,000 increase in payrolls, the fewest in five months, followed a revised 240,000 gain in February that was bigger than first estimated, according to labour department figures that were released yesterday in Washington.

The March increase was less than the most pessimistic forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey, in which the median estimate called for a 205,000 rise.