	u s jobs data said to rule out fed tightening a steep drop in goods producing jobs detracted from u s march non farm payroll employment and makes it unlikely that the federal reserve will tighten monetary policy to defend the dollar economists said u s march non farm payroll employment rose less than the gain of to the financial markets expected manufacturing employment fell compared with february s gain while march construction employment dropped after being unchanged in february the momentum of industrial activity is tapering off as we end the first quarter said stephen roach of morgan stanley and co inc this sets the stage for more sluggish growth in the second and third quarters the fed will view this as a caution flag on the economy he said they will not ease as long the dollar is weak but clearly they can t tighten david wyss of data resources inc said that the downward revision in february non farm payroll employment to from means that employment gains in the first quarter were weaker than expected while wyss left his first quarter forecast of real u s gross national product growth at pct he said the march jobs data suggested a downward revision in his second quarter growth forecast to pct from pct bill sullivan of dean witter reynolds inc said the average monthly gain in non farm jobs in the first quarter was only compared with in the fourth quarter of there s momentum in first quarter labor force activity but less than assumed he said gains in goods producing jobs were subdued at best this rules out any possibilty of the fed tightening for exchange related purposes in march the average workweek fell back to its january level of hours from hours in february manufacturing hours also fell back to their january level totalling hours in march compared with hours in february the commerce department noted that loss of manufacturing jobs in march was concentrated in automobile electrical and electronic manufacturing robert brusca of nikko securities international said that a decline in auto manufacturing employment accounted for nearly half of the total drop in manufacturing jobs economists said that a build up in auto inventories resulting from a steep drop in sales has finally caught up with the labor force and may point to slower growth ahead most expect an increase in inventories of as much as five pct to offset a steep four to five pct drop in final sales in the first quarter gnp accounts roach said he expects first quarter u s gnp to rise two pct to be followed by a gain of pct at best in the second and third quarters he said the march drop in industrial activity is a reasonable response in light of the inordinate contribution inventory accumulation made to gnp economists said the employment data also suggest weak gains in industrial production and personal income for march they expect only marginal gains if not small declines for these indicators compared with a february increases of pct in industrial production and pct in personal income steve slifer of lehman government securities said the drop in march construction employment may also signal a drop in march housing starts which rose pct in february to million units at an annual rate from million units in january the rate of unemployment fell to pct its lowest level since march from pct in february but wyss pointed out that this resulted from a drop in the labor force which fell to mln in march from mln in february this just means that there were fewer people looking for work so the drop in unemployment doesn t mean much he said he said the latest employment report will not concern the fed because it does points to gnp growth in the first half of pct but it does suggest they can t afford to tighten to quickly either the statistical factors used to smooth out seasonal fluctuations in the jobs data may have understated march labor force gains just as seasonal factors probably overstated them in january and february slifer said but are consistent with his forecast of pct first quarter gnp growth economic growth remains sluggish but silfer does not think that the federal open market committee changed policy at their meeting this week at some point they will be more inclined to ease he said for the time being however the march employment report increases the likelihood they won t tighten regardless of the dollar reuter 
