Analysts Put New Job Creation at 100,000 to 150,000 for March

Vince Boberski, an economist at FTN Financial, told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” that he expects the economy created about 150,000 new jobs in March.

“It’s going to be a weather-dominated report,” Boberski said Thursday. “One hundred and fifty thousand new jobs is really a little bit better than the underling trend in the economy, which is slowing from what we saw over the last couple of years.”

The Labor Department will release the March jobs report on Friday.

Gary Thayer, chief economist at A.G. Edwards, looks for an increase of about 100,000 jobs.

He believes the Federal Reserve will cut rates if inflation begins to cool.

“The Fed is in a wait-and-see mode right now,” Thayer said. “Although there is a lot of weakness in housing, the weakness isn’t widespread. The rest of the economy is still doing pretty well. I think policy makers can wait for the inflation numbers to come down. I don’t think they’re between a rock and a hard place.”

Boberski said the economy will avoid recession and grow 1% to 2% this year.

“Not stellar,” he said. “But it won’t throw stocks into the tank.”