Government hiring spree propping up the US job market [Video]

U.S. job growth has repeatedly blown past expectations since the start of the new year, but there has been a consistent factor underpinning those surprisingly strong figures: the government.

The most recent data from the Labor Department shows that employers added 303,000 jobs in March, easily topping the 200,000 gain forecast by LSEG economists. The unemployment rate inched lower to 3.8%, from 3.9% in February.

But digging deeper into the report reveals that the American government has been a major contributor of jobs since the beginning of the year – something that economists say is belying a strong labor market.

“It’s a little bit disconcerting when you see the fact that job growth is in sectors that are not necessarily your productive sectors,” Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial, told FOX Business.

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Public sector jobs at the federal, state and local …