US nonfarm payrolls revised down by 818,000

The US economy created 818,000 fewer jobs than originally reported throughout the 12 months ended 31 March, according to the Labor Department's preliminary annual benchmark revision.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics stated annual job growth was nearly 30% less than the 2.9m initially reported for the period and marked the largest revision to total payrolls since 2009.

At the sector level, the biggest downward revision came in professional and business services, where job growth was 358,000 less, while leisure and hospitality, manufacturing, and trade, transportation and utilities were also downwardly revised.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com