Stocks end the day higher even as blowout jobs report pushes some Fed officials to consider another rate hike

The 303,000 jobs added in March brings up the 2024 average to 276,333 jobs per month. That’s more than what was seen last year (average of 251,000 jobs) and well above pre-pandemic averages (183,000 from 2010-2019; 125,000 jobs from 1939-2019). It does bring up the question: How much of this growth is sustainable?Prior to the pandemic, it was thought that adding between 60,000 and 100,000 jobs each month would be enough to keep up with population growth (and account for the rising Boomer retirements). However, a report last month from the Brookings Institution speculated that the sustainable…