Employers created 431,000 jobs in March as the unemployment rate fell to 3.6% from 3.8%, the Labor Department said Friday.

Driving the news: The numbers were consistent with analysts’ expectations. Forecasters had expected 478,000 jobs would be created and the unemployment rate would fall to 3.7%.

The big picture: The latest jobs numbers show that the American labor market remains robust amid volatile financial markets and the beginning of the war in Ukraine.