US employers add 192K jobs; rate stays at 6.7 pct.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers added jobs at a solid pace in March and hired more in January and February than previously thought. Today's government report sent a reassuring signal that the economy withstood a harsh winter that had slowed growth.

The economy gained 192,000 jobs in March, the Labor Department said Friday, slightly below February's revised total of 197,000. Employers added a combined 37,000 more jobs in February and January than previously estimated.

The unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.7 percent. But a half-million Americans started looking for work last month, and most of them found jobs. The increase in job-seekers is a sign that they were more optimistic about their prospects.

"This employment report should help put to rest fears that the economy was stalling as we entered the new year," tweeted Justin Wolfers, an economics professor at the University of Michigan.