An acceleration in US employment growth in March resulted in 180,000 new jobs, in a sign the US economy remains durable despite a housing slowdown.
The labour department report showed job growth was stronger in both January and February than previously thought.
The March unemployment rate also dropped to 4.4% from 4.5% in February.
Analysts said the figures suggested the economy was part of a "soft landing", in which growth slows enough to contain inflation but not sink into a downturn.
It appears to support Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke's hypothesis that the world's biggest economy is able to weather a big slump in housing and will maintain modest growth in 2007.
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