These days, NACE surveys suggest that about 70% of employers hiring new college graduates use GPA as an initial screen (not necessarily the only initial screen) to determine whom to interview, and about 60% of those employers use 3.0 as a cut-off GPA. So the difference in interview chances for a student with a 2.99 GPA versus one with 3.01 GPA (assuming similar major, courses, previous work experience, projects, etc.) could be quite significant.
It is generally thought that most employers do not emphasize GPA much or at all after the applicant gets to the interview.