National Archives 
 
 Yes, it’s that time again, folks. It’s the first Friday of the month, when for one ever-so-brief moment the interests of Wall Street, Washington and Main Street are all aligned on one thing: Jobs. 
 
 A fresh update on the U.S. employment situation for March has hit the wires. Nonfarm employment grew by a seasonally adjusted 288,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said. The jobless rate fell to 6.3% from 6.7% 
 
 Expectations were relatively high for the report. Street consensus for this mornings report was 215,000 new jobs were created in April, with the unemployment rate ticking down to 6.6%. 
 
 Here at MoneyBeat HQ, we are offering color commentary and tracking the markets before and after the data crosses the wires. Feel free to weigh-in yourself, via the comments section. And while you’re here, why don’t you sign up to follow us on Twitter. 
 
 Enjoy the show. ||||| US unemployment rate plummets to 6.3 percent, lowest in 5½ years; economy gains 288,000 jobs 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — US unemployment rate plummets to 6.3 percent, lowest in 5½ years; economy gains 288,000 jobs. Article continues below 
 
 Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. ||||| WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. unemployment rate plunged in April to its lowest level since September 2008 as employers added 288,000 jobs, the most in two years. 
 
 The figures are a clear sign that the economy is picking up after a brutal winter slowed growth. 
 
 The Labor Department says the unemployment rate fell to 6.3 percent from 6.7 percent in March. But the drop occurred because the number of people working or seeking work fell sharply. People not seeking work aren't counted as unemployed. 
 
 Employers also added more jobs in February and March than previously estimated. The job totals for those two months were revised up by a combined 36,000. 
 
 Job creation is accelerating: Employers added an average of 238,000 jobs the past three months. That's up from 167,000 in the previous three.
– Today's jobs report shook out far better than economists had expected: In April, 288,000 jobs were created, and the unemployment rate dropped to 6.3% from 6.7%. The expectations had been 215,000 and 6.6%, the Wall Street Journal reports. Those 288,000 jobs mark the fastest job growth pace in more than two years—and as for the 6.3% unemployment rate, that's the lowest in five-and-a-half years, the AP reports. But not everyone is celebrating—as Paul Vigna points out, the new jobs number is "the biggest number since we got 360,000 back in January 2012. ... Everybody thought that was a great omen, but where have we gone since then?" And as the AP points out, the sharp drop in the unemployment rate is due to a similarly sharp drop in the number of people seeking work. There was more good news to be had, though, in the revisions for the prior two months: February's new jobs were revised to 222,000 (up from 197,000), and March's were revised to 203,000 (up from 192,000).