Economy Added Just 103,000 Jobs in March, Unemployment Holds at 4.1% & Labor Participation Rate 62.9%

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Washington, DC….Total nonfarm payroll employment edged up by 103,000 in March, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment increased in manufacturing, health care, and mining. Household Survey Data…In March, the unemployment rate was 4.1 percent for the sixth consecutive month, and the number of unemployed persons, at 6.6 million, changed little. Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (3.7 percent), adult women (3.7 percent), teenagers (13.5 percent), Whites (3.6 percent), Blacks (6.9 percent), Asians (3.1 percent), and Hispanics (5.1 percent) showed little or no change in March. The labor force participation rate, at 62.9 percent, changed little in March, and the employment-population ratio held at 60.4 percent.

At 1.3 million, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or
more) was little changed in March and accounted for 20.3 percent of the unemployed.
Over the year, the number of long-term unemployed was down by 338,000. (See table
A-12.)

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred
to as involuntary part-time workers) was little changed at 5.0 million in March.
These individuals, who would have preferred full-time employment, were working part
time because their hours had been reduced or because they were unable to find full-
time jobs. (See table A-8.)

In March, 1.5 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, little
different from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) These
individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and
had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as
unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.
(See table A-16.)

Among the marginally attached, there were 450,000 discouraged workers in March,
essentially unchanged from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.)
Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe
no jobs are available for them. The remaining 1.0 million persons marginally attached
to the labor force in March had not searched for work for reasons such as school
attendance or family responsibilities. (See table A-16.)

Establishment Survey Data

Total nonfarm payroll employment edged up by 103,000 in March, following a large
gain in February (+326,000). In March, employment grew in manufacturing, health
care, and mining. (See table B-1.)

In March, employment in manufacturing rose by 22,000, with all of the gain in the
durable goods component. Employment in fabricated metal products increased over
the month (+9,000). Over the year, manufacturing has added 232,000 jobs; the durable
goods component accounted for about three-fourths of the jobs added.

In March, health care added 22,000 jobs, about in line with its average monthly
gain over the prior 12 months. Employment continued to trend up over the month in
ambulatory health care services (+16,000) and hospitals (+10,000).

Employment in mining increased by 9,000 in March, with gains occurring in support
activities for mining (+6,000) and in oil and gas extraction (+2,000). Mining
employment has risen by 78,000 since a recent low in October 2016.

Employment in professional and business services continued to trend up in March
(+33,000) and has risen by 502,000 over the year.

Retail trade employment changed little in March (-4,000), after increasing by
47,000 in February. In March, employment declined by 13,000 in general merchandise
stores, offsetting a gain of the same size in February. Over the year, employment
in retail trade has shown little net change.

In March, employment in construction also changed little (-15,000), following a
large gain in February (+65,000).

Employment changed little over the month in other major industries, including
wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing, information, financial activities,
leisure and hospitality, and government.

The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged
at 34.5 hours in March. In manufacturing, the workweek edged down by 0.1 hour to
40.9 hours; overtime edged down by 0.1 hour to 3.6 hours. The average workweek for
production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged down by
0.1 hour to 33.7 hours. (See tables B-2 and B-7.)

In March, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls
rose by 8 cents to $26.82. Over the year, average hourly earnings have increased
by 71 cents, or 2.7 percent. Average hourly earnings for private-sector production
and nonsupervisory employees increased by 4 cents to $22.42 in March. (See tables
B-3 and B-8.)

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for January was revised down from
+239,000 to +176,000, and the change for February was revised up from +313,000 to
+326,000. With these revisions, employment gains in January and February combined
were 50,000 less than previously reported. (Monthly revisions result from additional
reports received from businesses and government agencies since the last published
estimates and from the recalculation of seasonal factors.) After revisions, job gains
have averaged 202,000 over the last 3 months.

_____________
The Employment Situation for April is scheduled to be released on
Friday, May 4, 2018, at 8:30 a.m. (EDT).

 

Economy Added Just 103,000 Jobs in March, Unemployment Holds at 4.1% & Labor Participation Rate 62.9% added by on
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