Nonfarm payroll added 228,000 jobs, as reported in the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). This is higher than February’s gain of 117,000 jobs (revised down from 151,000 jobs) and January’s 111,000 (revised down from 125,000).
Most of the employment growth for March was in health care (+54,000), social assistance (+24,000), and retail trade (+24,000). Meanwhile, employment services declined by 13,000 jobs, losing 6,000 in temporary help services.
Other highlights from the latest BLS report include:
- The unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.2% over the month, with 7.1 million people unemployed.
- The employment-population ratio held steady at 59.9%, and the labor force participation rate for the month changed little at 62.5%.
- The number of people employed part-time for economic reasons declined slightly to 4.8 million.
- The number of people not in the labor force who currently want a job, at 5.9 million, also changed little.
Private employment adds 155,000 jobs
ADP’s National Employment Report showed a rise of 155,000 jobs in private sector employment for March, doubling February’s increase of 77,000 jobs.
“Despite policy uncertainty and downbeat consumers,” said Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP, “the bottom line is this: The March topline number was a good one for the economy and employers of all sizes, if not necessarily all sectors.”
March gains included 57,000 jobs in professional / business services, 38,000 in financial activities, and 21,000 in manufacturing. Jobs declined slightly in trade / transportation / utilities (-6,000) and natural resources / mining (-3,000).
Year-over-year pay gains inched down in March, with job-stayers seeing 4.6% wage growth and job-changers experiencing 6.5% wage growth.
