WASHINGTON—U.S. hiring sprang back in March, showing a slowdown in February was likely just a passing chill during a historically long stretch of job creation.

Nonfarm payrolls increased a seasonally adjusted 196,000 in March, the Labor Department said Friday, a solid rebound from the 33,000 jobs added in February. The unemployment rate held steady at 3.8% last month, just above a 49-year low. Average hourly wages for private-sector workers grew a solid 3.2% from a year earlier, a slight slowdown from February, when pay rose...